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ISSN 0974 - 2506

Satyajit RayThe Art of the Master

AlleppeyThe Water Concert

Kushan CoinsGods on Gold

A magazine on Indian Heritage Volume 5 Issue 3 n Aug 2012 - Oct 2012 Price 250.00

1Heritage India August 2012 - October 2012 Volume 5 Issue 3

Those who are ignorant of the supreme purpose of life will never be able to attain nirvana in spite of their observance of the vows and rules of religious conduct and practice of celi-bacy and penance. The unenlightened takes millions of lives to extirpate the effects of karma whereas a man possessing spiritual knowledge and discipline obliterates them in a single moment.

My soul characterised by knowledge and faith is alone eternal. All other phases of my existence to which I am at-tached are external occurrences that are transitory. Just as a threaded needle is secure from being lost, in the same way a person given to self-study cannot be lost.

Every soul is in itself absolutely omniscient and bliss-ful. The bliss does not come from outside. Know thyself, recog-nize thyself, be immersed in thyself, you will attain Godhood. That with the help of which we can know the truth, control the restless mind, and purify the soul is called knowledge in the Jaina doctrine.

Lord Mahavira

The Essence of India

Heritage India August 2012 - October 2012 Volume 5 Issue 32

Editor in chiefManjiri KhandekarExecutive EditorRandhir KhareDesignSunil [email protected]

International Business DevelopmentNamrata Khandekar - [email protected]

Special CorrespondentsMeera Iyer (Bangalore)Parveen Brar (Chandigarh) Nithya SubramanianContent Co-ordinationManjiri [email protected]

Soliya [email protected]

AdministrationAnuradha [email protected] [email protected]

Heritage India

Advisory BoardDr. Vijay Kelkar Padmavibhushan awardee. Chairman, India Development Foundation,

New Delhi. Former Chairman of the Finance Commission (2007-2010), Finance Secretary (98-99) and Member of the Executive Board of the IMF, Washington DC (1999-2002)

Dr. Madhav Gadgil Padmabhushan awardee. Internationally renowned Ecologist.

Dr. M.K. Dhavlikar Padmashree awardee. Renowned Archaeologist. Ex-Director, Deccan College Post-Graduate Research Institute.

Dr. A.P. Jamkhedkar Renowned Archaeologist. Ex-Director - State Department of Archaeology & Museums, Maharashtra.

Dr. G.B. Deglurkar Expert on Temple architecture & Iconography.

President, Deccan College Post-Graduate Research Institute.

Smt. Yogini Gandhi Member, International Dance Council - UNESCO. Renowned dancer of Kathak and Odissi.

Smt. Parimal Chaudhari Director, Turtle Communications and Praj Industries. Accomplished journalist & academician.

Mr. Ninad Bedekar Renowned Historian and Research Scholar. Chief of Content Development - www.rajashivaji.com

Editorial Office: Heritage India Communications Pvt. Ltd. B/3 Devi Chambers, 23/5 Bund Garden Road, Pune 411 001, Maharashtra, India.Email - [email protected] - www.heritage-india.com

No. MAHENG/2008/24201. Printed and published by Manjiri Khandekar on behalf of the proprietors Heritage India Communications Pvt. Ltd and printed at Akruti, Parvati Industrial Estate, Pune 411 037 and published from B/3 Devi Chambers, 23/5, Bund Garden Road, Pune 411 001. Editor: Manjiri Khandekar.

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Mother Teresa once said that God is the friend of silence. That nature, trees, flowers, grass – all grow in silence. The Sun the Stars, the Moon, the Earth – all move in silence. We need the silence to touch our souls.

We will thus choose to remain silent for this moment and let the articles and visuals in this issue speak of the wealth left behind for us by our ances-tors, in terms of built heritage, crafts, coins, tangible and all the tangible and intangible heritage built up over centuries.

We hope that what is true for Heritage India’s mission today will tomorrow be the mission of the nation and the world and with this pulsating desire to achieve our goal, a desire which transcends everything else; we take you once again on another fascinating voyage to explore India and what she eternally stands for through Heritage India ~ your quarterly keepsake!

From the Editor


26Kashmiri Carpets

14Kaziranga

FestivalsVallamkali: The water concert of Alleppey

Wildlife sanctuariesKaziranga National Park: An Ecological Wonder

Arts and CraftsCarpets of Kashmir: Woven Brilliance

Ancient CitiesThanjavur: Of Temples and Maharajas

Heritage FeatureSatyajit Ray: The Art of the Master

MuseumsThe Lalbhai Dalpatbhai Museum: The Art of India

ExcavationsNagarjunakonda: The Tale of a Forgotten Metropolis

ContentsBuilt Heritage:Maheshwar Ghats: Simple Grandeur

Dynasty through NumismaticsGods on Gold: Divine Representation and Kushan Coinage

PersonalityStella Kramrisch

ScriptsBengali: A Journey through Time

CuisineThe Evolution of Punjabi Food

India AbroadThe Splendour that is Cambodia

Glimpses

Cover Credit: Kushan Coin, Shailendra Bhandare

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74Maheshwar


VallamkaliThe water concert of Alleppey

The sleepy backwaters of Alleppey rouse themselves once a year to conduct boat races, on a very elaborate scale.

Text and Photographs © Kumar Mangwani


Neighboring the Vembanad Lake and not very far from Kochi is the tropical water world of interlocked canals, precisely for which Alleppey (Allapuza) calls itself the “Venice of the East”, as also decorously upheld by Lord Curzon. The pretense maybe unfair to the land of fabled canals in the west but Alleppey’s picturesque backwaters and canals have been ranked high on the tourist itinerary. It thrives with its palm fringed waterways revealing the untouched side of rural Kerala.

A picturesque settingAlleppey drifts in slow motion. Here life is in

its meandering waterways, clutches of tin sheds and tattered hatches with small foreyards, fishing boats being greased for the daily forage and tiny boys dunking in the muddy trickle. In August, Kerala wears

a drenched mid-monsoon look. With the explosively begun torrents of June long expelled, wayward clouds hover, drained and tired, managing a shower once in a while. but only a gentle patter. Raindrops on the broad palm leaves dance, diamond-like, and then dribble onto the soggy mud.

Lush with a trace of the monsoon’s caress, the paddy fields have turned into patchworks of green and pretty winged birds flit restlessly in the palm thickets. Alleppey can get no more idyllic than this. But on the second Saturday of August each year, the tranquil Punnamada Lake turns into a virtual sea of people: the annual Nehru Trophy boat race attracts more than twenty million tourists and merry-making locals.


Snake boats‘Vallamkali’, literally, ‘water concert’, is an

eventful day-long race of an assortment of ferries. Called ‘vallam’ in the local Malayalam, these traditional pedal boats play an important part in the tradition of folk arts. Every boat therefore invites admiration and every race draws anticipatory roars from the gathered crowd, but it is the ‘Chundan Vallam’, the snake boat that has become a unique representation of Kerala’s cultural heritage. The boat is an impressive sight, measuring more than hundred feet from the tapered front bow to the back, its stern towering up to 20 feet above water, making it resemble a snake with a raised hood.

Chundan Vallams were the battle vessels ruling the medieval waters during the days of the Chempakaserry rulers and take pride in being the biggest row boats ever used in water sports. Made out of wood locally called ‘Anjalli thadi’ (Jackfruit) and built as per the ancient treatise of ‘Sthapatya Veda’, its hull is built with planks measuring 83 feet in length and 6 inches in width. Each boat is sponsored by either a village or one of the local clubs, and is worshipped as a deity. Only men are allowed to board the gangplank, that too barefooted.

The other category-wise lineup on the race day includes ‘Churulan Vallam’ (churul: circular in Malayalam), the erstwhile pleasure boats of the landlords


which vary from 12.25 to 20.25 koles in length (each kole is about 24 inches; See Box 1) with short, upturned ends and seat about 30 rowers. ‘Iruttukuthi Vallam’ or ‘Odi Vallam’, the smuggling boats of the heydays of Malabar, vary between 28.25 to 32.25 koles in length and carry 45 rowers. ‘Veppu Vallam’ or ‘Parunthuvalan’ (vaipu: cooking), the traditional boats that measure almost the same as Iruttukuthi, are used for ferrying emergency rations for the soldiers aboard the Chundans.

The term snake boat may be a misnomer for the Chundan Vallam, misappropriated by the former colonial rulers for its resemblance to the Viking boats of Norway. Unlike the mast-headed boats sailing the fjords, where elaborate Norse dragons embellished upraised bows, the Chundans have a lifted back with burnished brass and wood ornamentation and rely completely on oarsmen. Typically the Chundan is directed by a Kaarnavan, an impressive commander, wielding one long oar and directing the crew. In a race, about a hundred oarsmen sit in rows of two along the length of the boat with 5 Amarakkar, the steersmen, controlling the boat using a 12 foot long main rudder (Adanayampu) and 5 Nilakkar, the drumming chanters. Distributed along the length of the boat, the nilakkar thump a fast paced rhythm to accompany the couplets of ‘Kuchelavritham Vanchipattu’, the boatman’s song, a classic poem of the 19th century written by Ramapurathu

Shulba SutraSince ancient times Kerala has been

following the practice of the construction of temples based on the systems given in the Shulba Sutras. In this system the measurements were taken with the help of ropes (shulba means rope). Even today this system is followed in the construction of the traditional boats. The smallest unit for linear measurements was the angulam, roughly equal to the width of the middle joint of the middle finger of a middle-aged, medium sized man. Twenty four angulams sums up to one kole, roughly twenty four inches, but this unit differed according to the latitude of the place. This length varied by 2 yavams (8 yavams constitute 1 angulam) per degree of latitude and as such a kole is 30 inches at southernmost Kanyakumari, and at the extreme north of Kerala, it measures 28 inches. The temples at particular regions were built as per the prevailing unit in that area.


Fruit Knife, Noor Jahan, Steel & Semi Precious Stone, 17th century, India.


Warrier to entertain the king of Travancore on his boat journey.

Some popular boats which take part in the Chundan Vallam group are the Karichal, Champakulam, Paayipaadu and Devas. The Karichal Chundan is the oldest; the group’s first snake boat can be dated back to the construction of the Haripad Subramany temple about 120 years ago. The legend goes that in a dream of one Brahman, he was told to search for the temple’s idol

in the Kayamkulum backwaters. The prophecy came true and after hauling it out of the water, the idol of Subramany was brought to the Haripad temple. Historical texts speak of a snake boat called ‘Dharmarajan’, and the present Karichal Chundan replaced that time-worn boat. Measured as per ancient geometry, a traditional practice prevalent with the present-day boat builders too, the Karichal is 53.25 kole long and 51 angulam wide The Karichal has won the Nehru Boat Race trophy fourteen times since its inception and has been nicknamed ‘Jalachakravarthy’ by its architect, Narayan Acharya for its speed and agility.

The Nehru trophyIn commemoration of Jawaharlal Nehru’s visit

to Kerala in 1952 (then the state of Kochi), Alleppey’s snake boat races were held amidst great fanfare and the cheering locals. The first Prime Minister of India insisted on having a joy ride, escorted by a fleet of Chundan Vallams. The rousing welcome inspired Nehru to donate a rolling trophy, a replica of the long boat made in silver. Over the years, this trophy has come to be awarded at the competitive and popular Vallamkali


of Kerala’s backwaters and for the people of Allapuza and Kuttanad it is akin to a national festival.

With honour at stake the town gets abuzz- debates and strategies take precedence over political

news, local clubs diligently plan and past winnings are reflected upon. The boats are well pampered, their undersides oiled with a mixture of fish oil, coconut shell carbon (cheratta kari) and eggs for slickly gliding through the waters. Weeks before the big race day, the drowsy back waters get busy with the practice drills. From ‘kettuvallams’, Kerala’s proverbial houseboats, cruising from the wind-washed Vembanad Lake to the tropical palm-fringed Punnamada, tourists watch the practice. The repeated drills require perfect coordination, the hush of the waters only broken by the rhythm of the oars and the steady thumps accompanying the Vanchipattu.

On the big day, tickets sell fast and locals clamour for the front seats closer to the finishing line. Across the river, local groups manipulate their fishing dugouts through the jammed riverfront, skilfully tethering them to the wooden posts in front for a prime

Bronze gallery


view. Ropes are stretched down the 1400 meter length of both banks with colored flags at regular intervals to mark the four race lanes and one extra lane on either side for patrolling speedboats and rescue teams. For the opening ceremonies, the participants guide their boats to assemble along the VIP pavilion, at one end of the finishing line, where the coveted trophy is on display. In the intermissions that follow local speeches, tense faces weigh their chances. Amidst cheering supporters the contestants then swear to fair conduct with an elaborate flourish of the oars.

The procession of boats then moves towards the starting line, the crowd is rapturous and blowing noisily on bugles and horns. In the carnival-like atmosphere some even plunge into the waters- disregarding the race wardens with blaring microphones- to support their teams. Then as four speedboats ceremonially sail the course once, a sudden hush takes over the crowd. In the

momentary stillness nervous prayers are muttered while with taut muscles, the steersmen strain hard on their rudders. The flag signals the start and a near-riot erupts as crowds go wild, the thumping begins, trumpets jingle and in a haze of spray, almost 400 oarsmen assault the waters with primal prowess, stabbing the oars almost twice every second.

Oars are splashed to the rhythm of Vanchipattu and beating drums as a well-practised team effort. The front oarsmen row with a measured tempo; their muscles ripple in the overhead sun as they rotate the oar from starboard to port and vice-versa. The rear steersmen lift the long rudders in wide arcs hitting the water to the beat, the chanters are unstoppable with their war cry. With all eyes focused on the distant finishing line, the four snake boats hiss through the course.

The atmosphere lightens up after the first heats, as more races are conducted in other categories. There is huge applause as women in traditional white saris take the oars on Churulan Vallams. During another race, locals break into fits of hilarity- when a boat sinks in the middle of the course- suppressed only when the stewards and the police converge around the wilted crew. A cultural intermission follows: small fleets of boats row down the course with folk dancers performing the traditional dances on the rooftop. The colorful floats offer a glimpse of Kerala’s heritage, as Kathakali and Theyyam are performed to the beats of the bare-chested drummers.

As more heats conclude, the day draws to a close. The atmosphere is jovial, winning and losing don’t matter, the tourists and locals have enjoyed every moment of their money’s worth. In the fading light, they gear up for the final showdown of the Chundans. The last line up is the most deserving four teams, having won their individual heats. Twitching and restless, the supporters desperately await the few next moments. Flagged off, the snake boats traverse the course with untamed oar power, every oarsmen drawing upon the last of his energies, every muscle exerted to an extreme limit. The crowd watches with bated breath as the final four race neck-and-neck, in a timeless tableau. However, the day can belong to only one team: crossing the finishing line, they exult, brandishing their oars as the crowd breaks into frenzy once again.

With this fitting finale, the greatest water races in the world comes to an end. Winners and losers participate in the celebration, holding the coveted trophy to be cherished for another year. The revelry continues on the streets. Back on the Punnamada, the triumphant waters subside and the wind-washed palms dance once again as the backwaters retreat to its languid impassivity, overlaid by dusk. With the peaceful sound of the rippling waters, fishermen row their way back home, with only a storm lantern guiding them through this waterlogged world of ‘Gods Own Country’.


KazirangaAn Ecological Wonder

The Kaziranga National Park is a carefully protected world in which nature still celebrates the harmony of being.

Varsha GajendragadkarPhotographs © Milind Dhere, Milind Gargate


It is an early morning in January. There is a chill in the air and darkness still lingers. The only sound one can hear is the whistling of the wind in the woods and the faint ripple of the Brahmaputra. Over the leafy canopy hangs a silent fog. This is Kaziranga, located in the Golaghat and Nagaon districts of Assam, a vast and unique expanse of elephant grass, marshlands and dense tropical moist broadleaf forests, crisscrossed by four major rivers. It is one of the few sanctuaries in the world that hosts three big mammals: rhinos, elephants and tigers.


Biodiversity Hotspot, the park combines high species diversity and visibility.

The etymology of the name ‘Kaziranga’ is not certain, though there are several explanations that have come down through local legends and records. However, some historians believe that the name was derived from ‘Kajir-a-rang’ in the Karbi language, which means the village of Kajir. Among the Karbis, Kajir is a common name of a girl child and it is believed that a woman named Kajir once ruled over this area. Whatever the

Remarkable diversityRecognised as a World Heritage Site, the park

provides a rich habitat for two-thirds of the world’s Great One-Horned Rhinos. It also boasts of being home to the highest density of tigers among the protected areas in the world and is inhabited by a large breeding population of elephants. And of course, its specialness doesn’t end there. Kaziranga is also recognized as an important Bird Area by Birdlife International for the conservation of avifaunal species. Because of its position on the edge of the Eastern Himalaya


case may be, the story of Kaziranga as a protected area goes back to the mid twentieth century.

In 1904, Mary Victoria, the wife of the then Viceroy of India, Lord Curzon, visited this area. She was very disappointed when she could not see even a single rhino for which the area was renowned. She persuaded her husband to take urgent measures to protect the dwindling species. He responded by initiating a plan for the protection of rhinos. On the 1st of June 1905, the Kaziranga Proposed Forest Reserve was created and over the next three years, the park area was extended to the banks of the Brahmaputra river. In 1908, it was designated a Reserve Forest and converted into a Game Sanctuary in 1910. From 1938 onwards hunting in the sanctuary was prohibited but visitors were allowed to visit the park.

In 1950, a British forest conservationist, P.D.Stracey, renamed it the Kaziranga Wildlife Sanctuary and eighteen years later, the Government of Assam passed “The Assam National Park Act” declaring Kaziranga a designated national park. The 430 square kilometre park was given official status by the Central Government on 11 February 1974. Later, in 1985, UNESCO declared the area as World Heritage Site in recognition of its unique natural environment.


China gallery


A pristine glimpse of natureA visitor to the park, whether on elephant or in

a jeep, is treated to exquisite glimpses of the natural world. One sees rhinos with their families feeding on elephant grass, elephants in herds and bison and deer roaming free, without fear. Other wildlife attractions include wild buffalo and wild boar. Though the tiger population in the park is large, one hardly gets to see the big cat even if one is on a two to three day visit.

The grassland area attracts a variety of birds. Among them are the Crested Serpent Eagle, Pallas Fishing Eagle and Grey-headed Fishing Eagle which can be seen circling over the marshes. The water-bird variety includes Bar-headed Geese, Whistling Teal, the Bengal Florican, storks, herons and even pelicans. It is the Himalayan birds with vibrant colours that make this place a birding paradise. The variety includes the Oriental Honey Buzzard, Black-Shouldered Kite, Black Kite, Brahminy Kite, Fishing Eagle, White Tailed Eagle, Grey-Headed Fishing Eagle, Himalayan Griffon and others. Enormous flocks of migratory birds descend on the park’s lakes and marshy areas during winters, including Greylag Geese, Bar-Headed Geese, Spot-billed Pelican, Falcate Duck, Red-Crested Pochard and Northern Shoveller.

Apart from the astounding variety of animal and bird species, charismatic landscapes of Kaziranga

arouse heavenly delight in the hearts of visitors. The combination of grasslands, wetlands and dense forests that Kaziranga is blessed with, is an ecological wonder.With long stretches of lush green grass interspersed with tall trees, pristine water bodies that hold the clear reflections of the clouds and surrounding trees, flocks of colourful birds flying towards the sky, the winding stream of a river with dense thickets of forest on its banks, a lonely barge waiting for a short journey, a small bridge over the river reminding you of a human presence in the wilderness and early sunlight giving a dazzling glow to all living and non-living things, Kaziranga is a sensory dreamland.


Doll, Textile, 20th century, Japan


ConservationA lesser-known feature of the Kaziranga

National Park is the healthy relationship between the traditional forest dwellers and the forest authorities. A participatory forest conservation approach is the key to the conservation of this pristine ecosphere. The situation here is quite different from that of other national parks in India where unfortunately, there are conflicts between indigenous communities and park conservationists. The harmonious relationship between humans and nature has largely been instrumental in preserving the rich biodiversity of the park. However, threats remain - both natural and human-made. Floods, encroachment and poaching have led to a significant loss of wildlife and the park management has had to work tirelessly to initiate preventative measures. Flood control measures have been implemented and anti-poaching camps, regular patrols, intelligence gathering and control over the use of firearms around the park have remarkably reduced wild life casualties. However, the recent unprecedented floods in Assam still resulted in the perishing of 2 rhinos and at least 22 hog deer. Park officials worked tirelessly to rescue animals in danger and help them migrate to the highlands.

Kaziranga has inspired the creation of literary works, songs and films and will continue to do so… delighting the senses, and bringing out the artist and aesthete in all those who savour the many charms of this Eden. Here, Nature reveals her many facets and reassures us that it is still possible for diversity to flourish.


Carpets of KashmirWoven Brilliance

The silk carpets of Kashmir reflect the essential beauty of the Valley and express an aesthetic craft tradition.

Sana AltafPhotographs © Showkat Nanda, Sachin Naik Carpets courtesy: Oriental Craft Centre, Bund Garden Road, Pune


Shahabbas carpet Seena carpet


There are numerous facets to Kashmir’s handicraft tradition but the most prominent one is the craft of hand-knotted silken carpets. Historically, woven carpets of this sort were believed to have existed in the region even in early times. However, the early carpets were roughly designed and lacked the intricate beauty of the later work. But then every craft has its turning point and in this case it took place during the reign of the Sultans in Kashmir. The carpet industry, like many other crafts of the region, reached its zenith during the reign of Sultan Zain-ul-Abiddin who ruled for 50 years from 1420-1470 CE. His reign is regarded as the golden period in the history of Kashmir because of the development and peace that prevailed during that time.

A royal patronZain-ul-Abiddin is credited with bringing life

to the Kashmiri carpets. The Sultan invited carpet weavers from Central Asia, particularly from Iran, which was famed for its carpets. They trained Kashmiri craftspersons in the new techniques and designs of weaving. The Sultan made sure that adequate facilities were made available so that the industry could function well and provided regular wages to the weavers so that they would not have to suffer economic uncertainty. Thanks to this support, the carpet industry took a new direction and flourished. This gave the craftspersons creative encouragement and they began to produce aesthetically beautiful carpets of superior quality. Of course, the carpets that were produced were used only by the royal families of Kashmir because they were far too expensive for common folk.

With the coming of the Chak dynasty, violence and turmoil displaced the stability of the region, seriously affecting the crafts industry. Little or no attention was paid to artists and their valuable creations, resulting in a slow decline of activity. In the midst of this dismal scenario, carpet weaving as an industry virtually collapsed forcing weavers who had originally come from different parts of the country to return home. Weavers who had come from Central Asia also took the road homeward. Even the Kashmiri craftspersons, facing tremendous financial problems, left their homes and migrated to Punjab and Amritsar. They carried the living embroidery and carpet weaving tradition of their homeland to their new homes.

The resurgence of the craftCarpet weaving in Kashmir was filled with new

life when Akhnoon Rehnuma, a young craftsperson from Gojwara in Srinagar’s old city, took up the challenge. A businessman by profession, inspired by his grandparents and ancestors who had been associated with carpet making, he took the initiative to revive carpet weaving in Kashmir. After performing his hajj, he went straight


The ‘Taleem’ for instructions on weaving carpets


to Andjhan, a place best known for carpet weaving in Iran and dedicated himself to learning the art. He brought with him to Kashmir, all the materials used for carpet weaving and started a workshop in his homeland. Employing young boys, he trained them in this craft and laid the foundations of the industry. The practice spread to other parts of the valley and carpet weaving once again found its place in Kashmir

However, the process of carpet weaving at that time was very difficult and time-consuming. This was because no illustrations or text for weaving existed, except for rough designs. The weavers would cut a piece of thread and match it with a design on a paper and see where to fit it and then weave it into the carpet. Unfortunately, the design in the paper did not depict anything more than just a design and colours. The absence of a proper weaving guide which could easily help a weaver to transfer the design from the paper to the work left scope for errors which very often occurred. Taking note of this impediment, Ameeruddin Ganjoo who was associated with the carpet business, began working on a way to help weavers to accurately replicate designs.

He studied the designs and colours used in carpets carefully. Understanding the pattern and structure of their use, he worked out ‘Taleem’ - a coded script consisting of precise instructions for carpet weaving. This not only

Above and Below: The Kashaan carpet


China gallery


eased the work of weavers but also increased the scope of including new designs. Today, Taleem is employed in weaving carpets all over Kashmir using silken, woollen and staple threads. It includes the clear depiction of the pattern of mixing threads and the design of the threads to be used in weaving a carpet. Explained simply, the Taleem is placed before master carpet weavers, who loudly read its verses whilst all other workers weave the carpet as per the verses.

Technique Kashmiri carpets are of different types

depending on their designs. These types are named after various cities of Iran. A ‘Hamdaan’ is a type of Kashmiri carpet whose designing includes large boxes. It is made in 15 colours, mainly pastels and is 6x4 or 6x9 square feet in dimension. On the other hand, a ‘Kashaan’ carpet is floral in design and measures 2.5x4 sq. ft. The Irani ‘Ashaan’, another type of Kashmiri carpet, which measures 9x12 sq. ft., is designed with images of trees at the centre followed by crescents at the borders whilst the ‘Diamond Kashaan’ includes trees and candles, sized 7x10 sq. ft. And of course, the ‘Parde Kashaan’ has peacocks in its corners (6x4 sq ft) and the ‘Gumm’ type measuring 6x4 or 9x6 sq. ft. has designs of various sizes across its surface. Of all of these, the Kashaan and Hamdaan carpets are the ones most in demand.

Carpet making involves a number of steps such as the cultivation of silk or wool, treatment and dyeing, deciding upon the pattern of the carpet, weaving, washing and then adding the final touches. The person who designs the carpet is known as the Nakaash, whilst the weaver and the person who does the dyeing are known as the Kalimba and Ranger respectively.

Despite how far this craft has come, the threat of its extinction still lurks in the background. Weavers have begun to gradually give up the craft and dealers and exporters report an irreversible decline in their business. This has led to a drastic reduction in the number of carpet weaving workshops in the valley and a decline in the number of skilled and business people associated with this craft industry. It seems as if the very backbone of the carpet weaving tradition has snapped.

“Some years ago, the Valley had thousands of carpet weaving looms which have reduced to few in today’s times,” says Mohammad Maqbool, a carpet weaver. “The old city had hundreds of workshops. Every locality had 30 to 40 people weaving carpets but today there are a few weavers in the whole of the old city,” he adds. “This is due to the extremely low wages

being paid to the hard working carpet weavers. Their wages have not been raised over the last decades.”

“We earn a maximum of Rs 150 in a day. It has been the same for years,” reveals Imtiyaz Ahmad, owner of a carpet weaving workshop. He goes on to say that in winters the earning per day amounts to a maximum of Rs 50 as the days are shorter so less work can be done. In summer they earn Rs 100 to150. “We are paid Rs 400 per sq. ft. and the standard size which we make is 3x5 sq. ft. It takes us many days to complete one square foot. For one carpet, which we complete in more than two months, each weaver gets not more than Rs 6000,” he says.

“Kashmir carpets are not doing well now. We have lost our hold on the market. We have some demand in India, Europe and Middle East. Iranian, Persian and Chinese carpets have given us tough competition,” says Mohammad Amin, a carpet dealer and exporter.

Is this merely a dip in the fortunes of the Kashmiri carpet? Will there be a resurgence as has once happened in the past? Will the passion to keep alive this magnificent tradition once more rejuvenate its sagging prospects? As the diminished populace of weavers struggle on to maintain their standards of aesthetic brilliance, it would be well worth acknowledging the achievements of the faceless multitude of crafts persons who have pursued excellence, against tremendous odds.

The Seena Carpet


The Hamdaan Carpet


Thanjavur Of Temples and Maharajas

V. SelvakumarPhotographs © V. Selvakumar, Soliya Dantas


“Time is awful; it swallows everything-- civilizations and individuals-- on the course of its giant rollercoaster ride. We are fortunate that continuity in human knowledge system and the archaeological and historical records enable us to have fragmentary glimpses of its event-filled, turbulent course. “


As a young boy, I used to think of red whenever I visited Thanjavur town. The red soil near Thanjavur makes a powerful impression - take a look on Google Earth! The built-structures of this area were coated by the dust emanating from the red earth. The scenery around the highways from Thanjavur to Pudukkottai and Thiruchirappalli used to be dry red earth. On the contrary, if you travel two km to the east and north, the green paddy fields nurtured by the alluvial soil and the distributaries of the Kaveri river welcome you. Thanjavur brings the images of red and green landscapes to me. Thanjavur

There exist many stories and explanations for the name ‘Thanjavur’. Unlike the areas to the west and south, Thanjavur is comparatively cooler because of the delta and its paddy fields. “Than” means “cool” and “ur” means “settlement” in Tamil, and perhaps this fact, gave the town this name. Although Thanjavur town is dry, it overlooks the Kaveri delta that is rich with tender and ripe paddy fields and banana and coconut trees.

Certain places gain phenomenal importance by virtue of their strategic location. Likewise, Thanjavur is located at the junction of the Vallam Tableland and the Kaveri delta. Since it is easy to access the delta from here, it is the best location to control the delta. Perhaps the Pallava threat would have forced the location of the town south of the river Kaveri. The Cholas of the Early Historic period had their capital at Uraiyur (modern Thiruchirappalli), around the beginning of the Common Era. We do not know why the power centre shifted to Thanjavur, which is about 50 km east of Thiruchirappalli, in the Medieval period. Since the core of the delta lies further east, the power centre might have been shifted further east.

Thanjavur has a dual existence; one as an urban centre, another as the regional representative of the entire Kaveri delta. When people say Thanjavur, they do not mean Thanjavur town, but the entire Kaveri delta with its rich natural resources and cultural traditions. Thanjavur’s importance stems from its role as the political headquarters for a very long time. Thanjavur was linked all across the Indian Ocean, because of the powerful Chola Empire that covered many parts of South India. With the famous Brihadishwara temple, the palace and remnants of the past, it is a heritage town par excellence.History of Thanjavur

The history of Thanjavur dates back to the prehistoric period. The landscape around Thanjavur was wandered by the prehistoric groups, perhaps more than 10,000 years ago. Their traces are recorded in the ferricrete layers lying above the Cuddalore sandstone formations, west of Thanjavur. In fact Robert Bruce Foote recorded the first Palaeolith in this region at Vanganam Kudikkadu in the 19th century. This region

The Gopuram of the Brihadishwara temple

Sculptures on the Gopuram


not only in art and architecture, but also in the finer administrative system that they created.

The power of the Cholas began to diminish from the twelfth century and it completely disappeared with the rise of the Pandyas of Madurai, the Hoysalas and even the smaller, assertive chieftains, in the thirteenth century. Thanjavur suffered from the invasions of the Pandya king Maravarman Sundarapandya in 1218 CE. It was a small centre under the control of the Pandyas and the Vijayanagaras. The Nayaks

Thanjavur was under the Nayaks from 1535 to 1675 CE. They built the fortification, palace and the moat around Thanjavur and the Brihadhishwara temple. The contribution of Sevappa Nayak is very significant indeed. After the Cholas, only the Nayaks brought more development to Thanjavur, as they made Thanjavur their seat. They also contributed to temple building activities and Thanjavur, once again, became a power centre.The Marathas

The conflicts between Nayakas of Madurai and Thanjavur led to a change of power at Thanjavur. Ekoji became the king of Thanjavur around 1675 CE, and brought Maratha cultural traditions to this place. In the 18th century, European domination increased and the Maratha power declined. The second Sarfoji built new structures and contributed to the glory of Saraswathi Mahal library.

The European arrival changed the face of the town and Christianity came to Thanjavur. In more recent

was occupied by the microlithic communities during the Holocene. Vallam, 7 km southwest of Thanjavur, excavated by Y.Subbarayalu has evidence of the Iron Age and Early Historic period. Thanjavur was not a prominent town in the Early Historic period. In the Medieval period, very clear reference to Thanjavur comes in the songs of the Shaivite saints. Later the Muttarayar chieftains, who were the subordinates of the Pandyas, controlled the town. The origin of the town could be attributed to the Muttarayars, who could build a power centre away from the headquarters of Uraiyur, Pazhayarai and Kaveripoompattinam (Poompuhar).The Cholas

The Thiruvalangadu copper plates of Rajendra I mention that Vijayalaya Chola conquered the town and built a temple for Nisumbasuthani, which is identified with a Kali temple at Thanjavur. Vijayalaya is hailed as the founder of the Chola Empire which began in the middle of the ninth century. Then the rulers who followed him - from Aditya to Rajaraja I - created the mighty Chola empire, and the town naturally followed the glory of the empire. Although Rajendra shifted the capital from Thanjavur to the Gangaikondacholapuram, and built a palace and a temple there, Thanjavur also gained its glory for a while. Post-Cholas, it continued to be the capital under the Nayakas and the Marathas.

Among all the dynasties, the Cholas ruled Thanjavur the longest and their contribution to its history is much greater. They built many new temples and renovated existing temples with stone, and the numerous inscriptions in this region speak about their achievements. The achievements of the Cholas rest

Shiva Parvati along with other deities on the Gopuram


Veiled Rebecca


Bhikshatana Shiva


Paintings in the courtyard of the temple

times, Thanjavur continues to flourish as an agricultural centre in the Post-Independence era.

Heritage Attractions of Thanjavur

There is no dearth of heritage sights around Thanjavur, be it monuments or handicrafts or intangible heritage forms.Rajarajeswaram alias Brihadishwara

The tallest pre-Modern structure in Thanjavur, the World Heritage Monument of the Brihadhishwara temple completed one thousand years of its glorious history in 2010. Originally named after the builder Rajaraja I, now it is known as Brihadishwara, because of its large size. It is an architectural marvel, a very well designed structure that speaks volumes about the engineering skills of the Cholas. It excels in architecture, paintings and sculptures.

The temple is a simple, no-nonsense architectural piece. It has two gopurams (towers above the gateway) in front, and a fortification wall and moat constructed by the Nayakas. It has a huge courtyard, with the main shrine, mandapas in front on a plinth. The shrines of Ganesha, Subrahmanya and Amman (consort of Shiva) are later additions to the temple. The nandi (bull) in front is considered to be a Nayaka contribution is the second largest in India. The original Chola nandi is on the southern Prakara mandapa of the temple.

The sculptures of the devegoshtha are very wonderfully carved and appear solid. The images of Harihara, Ardhanari, Tripuranthaka and Lakshmi stand testimony to the sculptural talents of the Chola artists.

The original Chola paintings which were covered by the later Nayak paintings were exposed in the circumambulatory passage around the sanctum sanctorum. They depict several stories such Tripuranthaka associated with Shiva. Further above in the circumambulatory passage are the 81 complete karnas of Bharathanatyam illustrated in the representations of Shiva. Others out of 108 karnas are left incomplete.

Often myth is more attractive than the real history. One such myth is that shadow of the Brihadhishwara

Sanctum and the tower of the Brihadishwara

Painting on the ceiling


temple never falls on the ground. Although a section of professional historians and archaeologists strive hard to establish the facts, people love myth making and glorifying.

Similarly the samara on top of the Vimana (the tower over the sanctum) was considered to be made of a single large stone. Now scholars believe that it was made of several stones. Also rampant are the theories as to how the Vimana pieces were lifted and placed on top.

The inscriptions all around the temple have recorded in detail all that was given to the temple, which had its own treasury. They specify the length weight, nature with very graphical, technical details. Its material value would run in thousands of crores, while antique value is unimaginable. We have no idea as to where exactly it was located and what happened to this jewelry.

The sheep that were given to the temple were donated to the shepherds, who in turn agreed to donate a specific amount of oil/ghee to the temple daily for lighting the lamp. Rajaraja symbolically linked the temple to the far away territories, as the temple was given lands from as far as Sri Lanka, perhaps to symbolically unite his empire.

The temples also had four hundred women servants called devaradiyars (servants of divinity). They were given specific amount of salary and they were housed around the temple. There were brought from different parts of the Chola Empire.

We are often carried away by the colonial scales. We have forgotten our traditional measurements and study everything based on European or modern scale. I notice that often the traditional temples are studied using the metrical scales. Very rarely have they been related to the original scale of the builders! The big temple was built on a scale of much different nature. Its sanctum measures 16 span rod which was around 396 cms. The courtyard between the central shrine and the circumambulatory all around measures 10 times the size of the 16 span rod. The central shrine has been carefully measured and placed in the centre.

Massiveness: The Philosophy of the Big Temple

It has the tallest vimana, i.e. the superstructure above the Garbhagriha (the sanctum sanctorum), measuring about 60 mts. The linga is giant, the nandi, which was replaced by the Nayakas is also gargantuan. The courtyard is so expansive that any big gathering appears very small. The temple has challenged time. The temple is so large that when you stand in front of it you realize how small we are as infinitesimal spec in the Prapanjam (universe). Perhaps it tells us that we are insignificant creatures in this vast universe, which is beyond the limits of space and time.

Thanjavur beyond the Temple The magnificent art and literary treasures

collected from the time of the Nayakas stands tall as a store house of knowledge. It was patronized by the Raja Sarabhoji II. This library houses very important palm leaf and rare paper manuscripts concerning various

Inscription on the temple wall

Making a veena (left) amd (above), a decorative pot

Exhibits in the Thanjavur palace


subjects. It conducts training and workshops on various languages and conservation.

The art gallery perhaps houses some of the best Chola bronzes and sculptures. The images that stood in the shrines as object of worship now stand as pieces of exhibits and heritage. They bespeak the vibrant traditions of the Cholas. The Nataraja bronzes depict the variations in the style and design of the Chola artists.

The Thanjavur palace mainly built by the Nayaks and modified and complemented by the Marathas still survives. The darbar hall, arsenal tower, bell tower and the Sarja building are worth visiting. Sarja complex is the impressive structure of the Marathas at Thanjavur. It has a mix of European and Indian architectural traditions. The family of the Marathas still controls part of the palace and they have converted the area into a small museum.

The Tamil University museum is housed in the Palace complex and it has a collection of antiquities. It has a large stone anchor in its collections.

Heritage souvenirs of ThanjavurThanjavur is also rich in art heritage handicrafts.

Art plates, head-nodding dolls and paintings are bound to attract heritage lovers. They are the representatives of the mighty Indian cultural traditions. Veena making is still a living tradition in Thanjavur. Similarly potter’s craft also thrives.

Making Thanjavur art plates is a flourishing craft. Finely worked upon by the craftsmen, they carry the name of Thanjavur all across the world. On the brass plate intricate designs, images of deities and animals are placed and they are made of copper and silver. The craft was introduced in the time of the Marathas.

The dancing dolls of Thanjavur, ‘Thalaiyatti Bommai’ are quite famous. Papier mache, wood pulp, plaster of Paris, and/or clay have been ingeniously put together by the delicate fingers of the crafts-persons to make these dolls. One type of dolls have a round base with patch of clay fixed on the interior. Once you shake its head, it keeps on nodding from side to side for a few minutes.

Thanjavur has its own painting tradition, which is well and alive. The paintings are made on cloth using various colours. They mostly depict Hindu deities; and the deities are painted within an arch motif. Originally, gold and gems were used in making the paintings; now they are used occasionally. They are depicted in a style akin to the Nayaka painting traditions.

The lost glory of the Great Thanjavur Temples

Once upon a time, the fertile Kaveri delta and its flourishing power attracted various groups, including the Brahmins and Buddhists from North India. Thanjavur used to attract people because of its agriculture and surplus production capability. Now Thanjavur has

The giant Nandi, contribution of the Nayakas


changed and many a temple lies desolated, as people have moved out of the delta to the cities, even to the greener (silicon) pastures, nay the concrete jungles, as far as North America, Europe, Australia and Southeast Asia.

Preserving these temples today is a great challenge. Because of globalization and the fall in the traditional belief systems, the temples have no takers, although a few flourish because of the beliefs in navagrahas (nine planetary deities). The temples in the delta are being eaten away by nature. They simply cannot withstand the ravages of the time. Working out a heritage management strategy is the task of the

government and the voluntary organizations, as they possess valuable historical, epigraphical, archaeological and sculptural wealth.

Thanjavur in the Course of HistoryThanjavur is today a cocktail of cultural

traditions. A Tamil cultural base infused by the Sanskrit, Telugu, Gujarati, Marathi, Islamic and European traditions have contributed to what Thanjavur is today. Thanjavur region has produced many intellectuals, including the great mathematician Srinivasa Ramanujan and musician Thiyagaraja. The culture of Thanjavur has been nurtured by the flood waters and alluvial sediments from the upper reaches of the Kaveri, and also the mixture of Indian cultural traditions. Having understood Thanjavur’s historical course, I strongly believe that migration, movement and interactions create a dynamic leading to urbanism and development. However, we cannot underestimate the strong political will and political maneuver of the Cholas that pushed Thanjavur to the status of a regional power centre in the Medieval Indian Ocean region.

Thanjavur in the 21st centuryThanjavur town is now a shadow of its old

self, which was richer in traditions and history. It is the home of the Tamil University, South Zone Cultural Centre, and the Palace of the Marathas. With scores of culturalcentres in its vicinity and its heritage wealth, it attracts tourists from all over the world. It has a few educational institutions that attract students from many parts of India and remains a must-visit heritage destination.

Influenced by the determinism, I used to think that environment was a powerful factor in the formation of civilization. Now I realize that if there are no people and ideologies, then there is no civilization.

The arts of Thanjavur


As the country gears up to celebrate a century of Indian cinema, we pay tribute to the Master of the art who, through his imaginative creations explored the depths of reality to mesmerise generations of cinema fans. Satyajit Ray with his creative brilliance and artistic genius truly made Indian cinema go international.


Satyajit Ray The Art of the Master

Partha Mukherjee, Priyanka MukherjeePhotographs © Satyajit Ray Society and Ray family, Hirak Sen

Satyajit Ray in Bankura, West Bengal in film Ghorer Buyrer, 1973


Considered to be a cinematic master by his admirers, Satyajit Ray, the film maker from West Bengal, created thirty feature films and six short films, earning himself a special place in the cultural history of the whole world and contributing significantly to the development of the medium.

Unlike other directors of parallel cinema who make their films with a niche audience in mind, Satyajit could reach out to as many as possible. His films, while addressing social issues and depicting the subtlest nuances of human life, also accommodate the lighter moments of man in his cinema. He did it with his adept touch of mastery. Perhaps that is one of the reasons why he could put his protagonist in a situation where the character blooms with all that is essential to meet the challenges of reality.

His choice of themes included a wide array of subjects and concerns. With the crafting of each into a film, he drew deeply from the experience of the times he lived in. In fact he once wrote that the raw material of cinema is life itself. “It is incredible that a country which has inspired so much painting and music and poetry should fail to move the filmmaker.”

He explored the times he lived in through imaginatively made films that were fine works of art that explored within them a reflection of the ‘real’ world. A good example of this is Goopy Gyne Bagha Byne (The Adventures of Goopy and Bagha,1968) which lampoons the indifference of the king of Halla to the way his subjects were led to starvation and forced to take part in a war against Shundi, a neighbouring estate. Although Satyajit planned to pay tribute to Upendrakishore Roy Chowdhury during his birth-centenary year through


Parash PatharConsider the film Parash Pathar (The

Philosopher’s Stone) which is based on the story by Parashuram (Rajsekhar Basu) written in 1949, two years after India had achieved independence. That was the time when the mood in India was buoyant and Indians dreamt of a prosperous country with steady economic growth and abundant employment. This mood was reflected in Parashuram’s story. Ray transformed the story in a manner uniquely his own. While Parashuram’s protagonist was an advocate in the original story, Ray turns him into a bank clerk so that his character can best reflect the angst of joblessness during that time.

In the film we find that Paresh, the central character, is dismissed from his post as a clerk of a Calcutta based bank, which reminds us of the turmoil in the banking industry in 1954. That year witnessed a movement of bank employees against wage cuts. Satyajit Ray captures this turmoil as well as the unemployment crisis that became overwhelmingly evident in the years that followed. Perhaps Ray chose the central character to be a bank clerk because he felt that such a character would better represent the severe pain of joblessness. An advocate would not have felt the pain.

In Parashuram’s story, the discovery of Parash Pathar, the philosopher’s stone, when it comes into contact with anything made of iron turns it into gold, stunned the world. Paresh gets nominated for Nobel Prizes in Physics, Chemistry and Peace. Personalities like Bernard Shaw and Winston Churchill take note of the discovery. Churchill is concerned that the surfeit of gold might cause a slump in gold price and have a ruinous effect on international economy. Shaw philosophises that gold is a useless metal and cannot be beaten into a sickle or an axe or a ploughshare.

Parashuram’s fairytale, albeit tongue-in-cheek after a fashion, necessarily ignored possibilities – the philosopher’s stone as deliverance from economic privations for a middle class protagonist done in by Fortune.

To Ray, the philosopher’s stone represented the subconscious aspirations of the middle class people who are, nevertheless, scared of consequences. The film maker went on to chronicle the reactions of a variety of character stereotypes such as petty stockbrokers, the nouveau riche, corrupt and greedy businessmen. In a way, Paresh even takes revenge on the banks that had fired him – his discovery ruins the banking industry.

a film based on Roy Chowdhury’s timeless story for children, its central theme, ultimately dealt with war and hunger following two social calamities in the same year – the Indo-Pakistan war (1965) and the Food Movement (1966), that frayed the social fabric of Bengal. These two occurrences threw social, economic and cultural life out of gear and encouraged the restless spirit. Satyajit Ray caught this restlessness aptly in the film.

Literary characters frequently underwent radical transformation in Ray’s films -- a practising lawyer changed into a bank clerk who lost his job; a simple God-fearing village belle became the wife of a monotheist; another young woman who shared an inseparable bond with the village and its people left it forever to seek her daily bread; and a doctor who believed in going the struggle alone, discovers that he cannot accomplish his mission without mass support.


CharulataIn the Tagore story Nastaneer, Charu is writing

the history of a village temple, dedicated to Goddess Kali, and her narration oozes her own devotion to gods in the Hindu pantheon. In Ray’s film Charulata (The Lonely Wife) based on the story, Charu writes about poor village folk. She embraces Brahmo monotheism, the faith of her husband Bhupati, who is an ardent fan of Raja Rammohan Roy. Charu has metamorphosed into a housewife in a secular family with Beethoven’s bust in the parlour and no Hindu deity. Amal, her brother-in-law sings no devotional song but a Thumri composed by Nawab Waziid Ali Shah: Jab chhör cholé Lucknow Nögöree. Charu is at home in a household where a social worker gets more respect than a preacher of any faith. Bhupati is fond of songs that advocate detachment from the mundane.

This ability to creatively transform a literary work into the living medium of cinema that absorbs wider and deeper issues at the same time was Ray’s forte. We see this again in the film Ashani Sanket (Distant Thunder) which is based on Bibhutibhushan Bandopadhyay’s novel of the same name. In the novel, Chutki, despite imminent famine, has a Hamletian dilemma about following the exodus out of her village. She stays back on the advice of her friend Ananga. Chutki says: “You want me to stay back. I cannot disobey you. Ananga is happy, but wants reassurance: Are you sure?”

In the film however, hunger pangs force Chutki to leave the village. Chutki says: “I am going to the city to get a daily meal.” Ray changed Chutki’s decision as a true alternative considering the stark reality of famine.

GanashatruRay uses the same touch when he transforms

Henrik Ibsen’s An Enemy of the People into a film Ganashatru. In the play Dr Thomas Stockmann stands alone against the greedy townsfolk who are not ready to give up a tourist bonanza from the public baths, and disregard the good doctor’s health warnings related to contamination from the town’s tannery. The doctor says, despite becoming the folkefiende (enemy of the people): “You see, the point is that the strongest man in the world is he who stands most alone.” In his film Satyajit Ray turns the story around dramatically.The doctor has enthusiastic young followers, symbolising the victory of the people for a good cause.

Considering its age, Bengali film industry should have been at the full bloom of its youth when Satyajit arrived in the industry in 1955 but the picture was not the same – it had not yet matured enough even by then, rather it was evident in its progress that inadequate infrastructural base even after two decades – since the first talkie (Jamai Sasthi-1931) – left the industry in its infancy, nor was there enough ‘creative-brilliance’, which could make up those deficiencies and let the industry grow with creative excellence at a rapid pace. Satyajit had no previous link with so called Tollywood heritage. It perhaps helped him walk along a path that he had set himself and introduce an alternative approach to film making.

Satyajit was more interested in the ‘person within the person’ than a ‘person as a person’, using cinema’s amazing potential to reveal what is hidden. In the scene from Ray’s film Pather Panchali, the film maker deftly takes the viewer into Apu’s mind in the scene in which he is brushing his teeth with


Poster of Parash Pathar designed by Satyajit Ray himself


charcoal powder. He turns very still fixing his gaze on the surface of the pond near him. This quiet stillness is sensitively suggestive.

With each film, Ray pursued his search for the life within each of us and his pursuit inspired him to push the boundaries of his films into the realm of art, capturing the nuances of life on the screen for his viewers. We can find a little of ourselves in each of his films in addition to encountering moments of surprise, insight and reflection that help us transcend the temporal. So effortless is the transition that we forget that it is cinema.

It is this multiple ability to look deeply within, right to the core of our human and mythic selves and outwards to our connectedness to the world around us, that places Satyajit Ray firmly in the league of creative geniuses who have kept alive the great Indian cultural tradition...rooted in the past, living in the present and striving towards a future, exquisitely fusing and transforming the old and the new, continuously.

The authors acknowledge the sincere help of Ujjal Chakraborty, the internationally renowned Ray scholar, for providing his analytical views while preparing this article; and Goutam Bhattacharya for the select usage of language.

A still from Charulata

Satyajit Ray in Howrah Station (Sonar Kellah, 1973)


L D MuseumThe Art of India

The Lalbhai Dalpatbhai Museum is a treasure-trove of Indian art and is enriched by the donations several private collections.

Ratan ParimooPhotographs © The LD Museum and the NC Mehta Gallery

Veiled Radha being led to meet Krishna, Folio from Gita Govinda, Guler Kalam, Pahari; c.1765-1770 CE


Ahmedabad is well known for its historic fortified city centre and vibrant kite-flying festival. A lesser known fact about the city is that it also has a real treasure-trove of sculptures and miniature paintings, ancient scrolls, coins and books at the Lalbhai Dalpatbhai Museum. The Lalbhai Dalpatbhai Museum of the L.D. Institute of Indology Trust, is a museum of Indian sculptures, paintings and coins, located in Ahmedabad. Ever since its inception in 1956, the institute has been collecting and preserving rare manuscripts and artifacts of various kinds. The museum is the product of the vision and energy of two remarkable persons who were responsible for its establishment: Muni Shri Punyavijayaji, an erudite monk and scholar, and Sheth Kasturbhai Lalbhai, the well-known industrialist of Ahmedabad.

As the collection grew over the years, the board of trustees of the institute felt the necessity for a building to house the display of its collection. Consequently, a new museum was built as an annexe to the existing building, which was also designed by the internationally acclaimed architect, Shri Balkrishna Doshi. The new museum building was opened to the public in 1984. As the years went by, the collection expanded thanks to donations of art collections by prominent personalities such as Kasturbhai Lalbhai, Madhuri D. Desai (the daughter-in-law of the famous freedom fighter Bhulabhai Desai) and P.T. Munshaw, etc. The N.C. Mehta Collection is displayed as part of an agreement between the Gujarat Museum Society and the L.D. Institute of Indology Trust.

The Muni Punyavijayaji GalleryStarting with the Muni Punyavijayaji Gallery,

one is presented with one of the finest collections of paintings in the Gujarati Jaina style, some of which are painted before the Mughal period. The collection, which was assembled by the Muni during the 1940s, has some rare illustrated wooden book covers (patli) created for palm-leaf manuscripts. The Jaina pilgrimage painting on cloth executed in 1433 at Champaner, Gujarat is the earliest extant example of such a painting on cloth. Similarly, a Vijnaptipatra painted at Agra by the Mughal painter, Ustad Salivahana, in 1610 is the earliest painted document of its kind. It refers to the Mughal Emperor Jahangir’s farman (royal decree) prohibiting the killing

Gupta Coin

Kalpasutra


Jahangir’s Farman


of animals in his empire during the Jaina festival of Paryusana.

Other outstanding examples on show include the earliest painted paper manuscript dated 1346, the illustrated manuscript of the Kalakacharyakatha (c. 1430) in Mandu style, the Matar Sangrahani sutra (d.1583) painted by Chitara Govinda, the Shripala Rasa (18th century) in the late Gujarati style, and several rare cosmological diagrams called Adhidvipa (c.1440) and the Jaina Siddhakacharya yantra. The Punyavijayaji Gallery also has a section which highlights the age-old tradition of wood carving in Gujarat.

The Kasturbhai Lalbhai collectionMoving on, one comes to the next gallery, the

Kasturbhai Lalbhai collection, which comprises over 1855 drawings and unfinished paintings, representing most of the schools of Indian miniature painting. Acquired during the 1940s, it consists of a large collection of Indian drawings obtained from the Tagore family of Calcutta. The collection was formed by Gaganendranath and Abanindranath Tagore in collaboration with E.B.Havell during the first decade of the 20th century in Calcutta. Many of the drawings were

obtained from a traditional artist in Patna as recorded by Ananda Coomaraswamy who published some of them along with his own drawings in 1911 and 1912. These drawings were then acquired by Sheth Kasturbhai Lalbhai in the 1940s and now they are preserved at the L.D. Institute of Indology.

The collection is represented by a display of fourteen exquisite drawings for Indian miniature paintings belonging to various regional schools, between the seventeenth and nineteenth centuries. These

Maharaja Savant Simh Listening to Music, Orccha, Bundelkhand; c.1752-1765 CE.

Bilhana and Champavati, Folio from the Chaurapanchashika


China gallery

Mahavira’s Enlightenment, an Illustrated Folio from Kalpasutra, dated V.S.1605 i.e. 1548 CE, Patan, Gujarat.


paintings are being displayed for the first time with the objective of understanding the technical processes behind the creation of traditional Indian miniature paintings.

One can observe drawings of various sub-schools of Rajasthani and Pahari styles, such as Kotah, Guler and Kangra, besides Mughal styles including late Mughal manifestations in Oudh/ Lucknow and Murshidabad, mostly executed during the eighteenth century. A perusal of the inventory of the collection reveals that there are dozens of portraits of Mughal emperors, that is, from the Mughal school. Such drawings also include portraits of the Nawabs of Avadh and also of Bihar and Bengal. Again there are dozens of animals and bird studios from various schools. This collection includes numerous folios of decorative designs for textile and other media. Ragmala, Krishna Lila and Hindu deities are represented in many folios including scores of Ramayana drawings of the Pahari school. Many drawings depict biographical episodes of Guru Nanak. Among the numerous nineteenth century drawings of the Company period are depicted many varieties of Indian characters and professions. There are perforated drawings on animal skin or charba, for the purpose of making tracings.

The making of a Miniature PaintingThis collection was formed nearly a hundred years

ago with the objective of understanding the technical process of traditional Indian miniature paintings. One can observe unfinished and finished drawings, also drawings which are partially painted, that is, they show traces of filling colour or contain colour patches which give directions by the master to his pupil for guiding him as to how he should fill the colours. Often the line is drawing is made of light brown colour (gheru) on which a fine black line is drawn. The black colour is made of soot i.e. the same manner kajal or kohl is made. Other colours are obtained from organic and mineral substances. The base is handmade paper and is called vasali. Some drawings are made on single sheets of vasali. A finished painting, though, must have a strong base of two or three sheets of vasali. Making the initial line drawing is called lekhya karma. It is an interesting phenomenon that right at the very beginning of the act of drawing the painters were able to register the imprint of the characteristic style which they had inherited and in which they were trained. This facilitates the process of classification according to various schools of Indian Miniature Paintings.

Indian Miniature Paintings include illustrations of sacred or secular books, poetic compositions, epics, Ragamala paintings, darbar scenes, portraits, religious

Krishna lifting Mountain Govardhana, Illustration from Gita Govinda, Basohli Kalam, Pahari; c.1730 CE


Nayika Longing for Meeting with Nayaka, Illustration from Rasikapriya of Keshavadas, Bundi, Rajasthani; c. 1725 CE


and social festivals. They were exchanged on special occasions as gifts between kings and courtiers, and were used to embellish the walls of royal palaces, art galleries and bedchambers. They are called ‘Miniature Paintings’ because of their small size, painted on handmade paper with indigenous mineral colours. Along with the Kasturbhai Lalbhai collection, one can also view miniature paintings in the N.C. Mehta Gallery.

The N.C. Mehta GalleryIn the beginning, at the N.C. Mehta Gallery, we

see early examples of miniature paintings of the Jaina

and Sultanate Schools. The folios of the Jaina Kalpasutra and Balagopada Stuti represent painting in Gujarat during the 15th and 16th centuries. The Sultanate style is exhibited through the folios of the Sikander Namah. The pièce de résistance of the N.C. Mehta Gallery, however, is the Chaurapanchashika series. The Chaurapanchashika series consists of fifty love lyrics of a thief, composed by the Kashmiri poet Bilhana in the 11th century. The story goes that Bilhana, the poet, fell in love with Champavati, the daughter of a king. When this fact came to the ear of the king, he ordered his men to take the poet to the gallows. On the final day before the execution, the king agreed to grant Bilhana one last request. Bilhana asked to be allowed to recite his fifty verses. These verses apparently pleased the king so much that he pardoned Bilhana and gave Champavati in

marriage to him.

N.C. Mehta Collection is also known for its rich range of paintings from all regional varieties of the Pahari School such as Basholi, Guler, Kangra, Kulu and Mandi. Outstanding are the folios from Guler and the Kangra . A unique group of Malwa and Bundelkhand paintings are also special features of this gallery.

Portrait sculpture of Maharaja Shri Jayasimha, Marble, Harij, Gujarat

Standing TirthankaraBuddha

Tibetan mandala, 18th century, Tibet


The Madhuri D Desai GalleryGoing from Miniature Paintings to sculptures,

one enters the Madhuri D Desai Gallery, named after the noted art connoisseur and collector who was also the daughter-in-law of veteran freedom fighter and jurist, Shri Bhulabhai Desai. Donated in 1977-78, the sculpture collection is unique since all the major regional styles of the sub-continent are represented here. Outstanding pieces include the largest head of the Buddha in stucco (5th century) from Gandhara, the earliest cult image of Lord Rama (early 6th century, Gupta period) from Devgadh, Madhya Pradesh, a rare figure of Matrika Aindri (6th century) from Shamlaji, Gujarat, the Adinath bronze image (7th – 8th century) from Sirpur near Nandurbar, Maharashtra, the Jaina bronze images from Ghogha, district Bhavnagar, Gujarat and some of the finest examples of Buddha images from Mathura/ Sarnath, Nalanda and Nepal/Tibet. Besides, the Madhuri Desai gallery includes some very fine Chola sculptures (10th and 12th century) from Tamil Nadu. A majestic group of four Tirthankaras from Ladol dating between 11th and 13th centuries, is displayed in Chaumukha arrangement. Recently a new showcase displaying nine portrait statues of distinguished personages from Gujarat during the mediaeval period has been added, including the Solanki king Maharaja Jaisinha (Siddharaj). The portraits are inscribed with the date of V.S. 1285 i.e. during the Waghela period (1228 A.D.) and the find spot is Harij (near Patan).

The P.T. Munshaw galleryThe P.T. Munshaw gallery has on display

a representative collection of historical phases of coinage of India which was posthumously gifted by

Smt Nandiniben Munshaw in 2005 in memory of her husband. The collection includes the earliest punch-marked coin called bentbar (c.600 B.C.), coin of Chandagupta II, Akbar’s Din-i-Ilahi coin, Jahangir’s Imperial Roman silver coin, Zodiac series in silver and Adil Shah’s Larin (d.1668).

At the end of a visit, the L.D. Museum leaves a visitor with a deep sense of awe and marvel at the many manifestations of beauty and skill on display.

Adinath - Bronze

RamaDakshinamurti ShivaBuddha Head, 5th Century, Stucco, Gandhara


Nagarjunakonda The Tale of a Forgotten MetropolisVarada KhaladkarPhotographs © Lakshmi Prabhala, Amit Patwardhan, Prasad Barve, Suraj Pandit Courtesy: Archaeological Survey of India, National Museum, New Delhi


“The first time the gates of the Nagarjunasagar dam were opened, the river waters burst out in mighty force and submerged the remains of a once-great metropolis.”


Today the Nagarjunasagar dam on Krishna river stands as a massive testimony to the technological progress of 20th century India. Seemingly endless backwaters gently lapping at the feet of gigantic masonry walls of the dam have, however, an almost forgotten story to tell: a story from an antique land of a prosperous city that kings built, one of an eternal struggle between nature and man. The tale is of Vijayapuri alias Nagarjunakonda, the capital of the Ikshvaku kings.

The excavations at Nagarjunakonda, as the site is known today, are unique in the history of Indian archaeology. These not only laid bare a very prosperous city and a centre of Buddhism but also proved to be the most successful and biggest salvage and restoration exercise of ancient remains that India has seen to date.

Early excavationsIt was as early as 1927 that A.R. Saraswati,

an archaeologist, noted ancient remains in a secluded valley on the Krishna river. This valley, barely 15 sq. km in spread, was cordoned off by hillocks from almost three sides and bounded by the river on the fourth. It was strewn with evidence of human settlements over millennia – from prehistory to the Iron Age (megalithic). It seemed to be hosting notable remains of the Buddhist establishment, which attracted investigations in the first place.

The site was subjected to excavations thrice. The initial attempts by A.H. Longhurst (1928-31) and T.N. Ramachandran (1938) were limited and aimed to expose and document the Buddhist remains. However, this area falling within the submergence zone of the proposed Nagarjunasagar dam prompted a huge exercise in salvage excavation and restoration, spread over six years (1954-60) by the Archaeological Survey of India. The whole valley was subjected to investigations with excavations at 136 loci spread all over the area. It laid bare not only the whole culture sequence from the Stone Age to the medieval period but also the remains of a capital city of the Ikshvaku dynasty of south India.

The excavations yielded not only the remains of Buddhist monasteries but also of a fortified citadel with

Moonstone, Anupu

Shiva Temple


supremacy over the region and built the fortified capital named Vijaypuri. He and his successors Virapurushadatta, Ehuvala Chamtamula and Rudrapurushadatta oversaw the establishment and consolidation of political powers as reflected in the rampart gradually renovated from mud and rubble to one built with baked bricks and stone slabs. They were also responsible for the spread of diverse religious establishments of Buddhism and Brahmanism in the valley. Their successors were Abhir kings who were patrons of the Brahmanical religion. However, they did not rule from this capital. With the political power shifting its central base, a slackening of trade and the ever-increasing levels of river, the city was abandoned.

A majority of the huge urban early historic sites in India continued to be the cities in succeeding early medieval and medieval periods – thus presenting a challenge to archaeologists in studying the nature of earliest city levels as one needed to conduct the tenuous and time-consuming task of clearing away the later remains to reach the levels below. However, Nagarjunakonda provided a unique opportunity to study a city in a time capsule of approximately 300 years. All the cultural debris belonged to one period bracket, making clear the processes of the emergence and decline of a capital.

There were three major clusters of occupation in the valley. A citadel near the river, Brahmanical shrines, ghats, dockyards along the riverbank, and the Buddhist monasteries and stupas on the eastern side along the

houses within and outside – of elites and commoners, rest houses, craft workshops, Brahmanical and Buddhist temples, dockyard, bathing ghats, crematorium, memorial pillars (chhaya stambhas) inscribed in memory of royal personages and other elites, relic caskets of sacred remains of Buddhist monks and portable antiquities like coins, jewellery, beads, pottery and so on. It all helped in piecing together a hitherto unknown story of how a prosperous metropolis nestled in a small corner became an integral part of economic, political and religious networks of Asia.

A pinnacle of powerAlthough the valley was inhabited by man from

the Stone Age through the Neolithic and Iron Ages, the settlements were small, indicating sparse rural populations. It reached its pinnacle of glory between 2nd to 5th centuries CE when the Ikshvakus (not the mythical dynasty from Ramayana) ruled as the successor kings of Satavahanas in Andhradesh. Probably hailing from the region itself, they found the location strategically convenient as the natural barriers of hills and river provided protection from all the directions. The rich natural resources in vicinity were an additional bonus.

It was a noted Buddhist place which was already receiving the Satavahanas’ royal patronage as the remains and inscriptions suggest. However, its glory came with its promotion to capital city by the first king of the Ikshvakus, Chamtamula I. He allied with other dynasties like the Rathikas, established his political

Reconstructed university, Anupu


foothills. The commoners’ houses, rest houses and other public buildings were interspersed across these.

The entrance to the citadel was through gates wide enough for an elephant to pass through. The inner base of the rampart contained a 10 ft wide path which circumscribed the settlement within. Inside the citadel, were houses of royals and the elite, several water tanks and some ritual spaces, though no major temple was built inside.

Houses were made of mud and rubble or bricks and built within a compound wall. There used to be a few rooms and the front verandah separated by an inner courtyard from kitchen and storage room at the back. The elite houses also had pillared halls at the centre, on a raised platform. The floors were paved with stone slabs in such houses. The royal house was not very different from this apart from having more rooms and a well-secured location within the citadel. Commoners lived mostly outside the citadel walls.

There were workshops of goldsmiths, ironsmiths, shell and ivory workers, sculptors, stone cutters and carvers, potters, brick-makers and lime-makers. They catered to the needs of the urban population.

The whole residential area was supported with well thought-out water management. The excavation has yielded several wells, bathing tanks and water cisterns as well as canals to provide water to the resident population. Water was sourced not only from the river but also from the streams trickling through the hills. These were tapped and channelised through a series of small rubble bunds and fed to the canal which, traversing along the amphitheatre and residential clusters, finally emptied in the river. The water management also consisted of the provision of drains and soakage pits for houses, monasteries and temples.

Along the river side, there was a linear establishment of ghats and Brahmanical temples as well as the dockyard harbor. That the river played a dominant role in the daily as well as religious and economic life of the citizens is clear. The stepped bathing ghats were built of brick and lime covered with stone slabs, and flanked by balustrades with makara carvings. There is some evidence that the ghat was maintained and reinforced to combat gradually rising water levels and heavy floods. There was also a huge reservoir-cum-dockyard (309 x 259 ft) flanked by galleries and a pillared pavilion. Its tank had raised vertical walls of differing dimensions and an inlet/outlet

Reconstructed Amphitheatre, Anupu



directly connected with the river. This area yielded a number of coins, elephant bones, pendants, etc.

Rest houses, for travelers and outsiders, were built across the city, at road crossings and near the temples. A pillared ranga-mandapa (dance hall) was also found along one of the main roads.

That the city was a part of inland Indian as well as Indo-Mediterranean trade network is evident from the various non-local items found in the excavation – potteries such as Red Polished Ware from Gujarat, Kushana Red Ware from north India, coral and pearls

Stupa in chaityagriha, Simhala vihara

from coastal areas, Roman gold coins of Emperor Tiberius, lapis lazuli stone from northwest frontiers beyond Afghanistan and so on. The river must have acted as the major artery of trade for this city.

The religious establishments were another highlight of this metropolis. Although the kings themselves worshipped Brahmanical gods –Karttikeya being their patron deity– they also provided patronage to Buddhist activities which predated them in this valley.

Nagarjunakonda has always been associated with the great Buddhist teacher Nagarjuna by the Buddhist tradition. The Buddhist remains, mainly confined to the eastern flank of the valley, consisted of several stupas, chaityas and viharas, independently as well as in combinations. A pottery piece was found here with an incised drawing of a monastery and a few other pieces with Buddhist triratna symbol.

Stupas had inscribed Ayaka pillars in the regional Andhra style which recorded gifts from royals and laity. A mahastupa was excavated in the first excavation which housed relics of some important Buddhist personage. These stupas have yielded some of the richest reliquaries in India. 20 relic caskets of metal and stone, including gold, silver and copper and 18 of clay were found with relics of Buddhist monks and various offerings like gold and silver flowers, pearls, beads of coral, garnet and crystal.

The Buddhist complexes belonged to a number of sects within the Theravada as well as Mahayana schools and probably of monks from various lands. One inscription mentions such an establishment of Ceylonese monks. Each monastic unit seems to have consisted of some combination of three elements - stupa, apsidal chaitya halls and viharas or residential units. The Buddhist establishments are important to the understanding of both Buddhist art and changes within the Buddhist religion that occurred in the third century CE.

Image of the Buddha, Simhalese monastery, Nagarjunakonda

Mahastupa, Nagarjunakonda


A highlight of the settlement was the huge amphitheatre with a square yard bounded by stepped galleries and a central aisle of steps leading to the temple of the Buddhist goddess Hariti. The whole structure was built on the sloping contours of a hill. The galleries were brick-built and paved with stones and the steps were flanked with ornamental balustrades. Clearly, this was used for congregational purposes.

71Heritage India August 2012 - October 2012 Volume 5 Issue 3 Amphitheatre overlooking the Nagarjunasagar back water, Anupu


The stupas at Nagarjunakonda were embellished with ornate sculptures depicting the various events from the life of Gautama Buddha and scenes from the Jataka tales. Other sculptures included images of Gautama Buddha and decorative slabs showing the worship of the stupas. The architectural and sculptural styles were in continuation with the Amravati style, underlining the shifting centre of Buddhism from Amravati to Nagarjunakonda with shifting political base.

Nagarjunakonda has also provided us with the earliest known Brahmanical shrines, devakulas, which evolved into temples in later centuries. These square shrines with carved limestone pillars belonged to various Shaiva and Vaishnava affiliations. Though

the images were not found, label inscriptions tell us the presence of temples of Karttikeya, his consort Devasenaa, Pushpabhadraswami, Ashtabhujaswami, Nagadishwara and Sarvadeva.

Along with these temples, the citadel area provided unique evidence with the inscriptional record of Ashvamedha yajna (sacrifice) performed by kings. At the centre of the citadel was a massive compound that housed a square brick tank connected with river through a covered channel. Adjacent to the tank was found a brick platform with a horse skeleton. The whole complex had been burned down. The excavators have identified it as a possible place for the Ashvamedha sacrifice.

Bronze gallery

Birth of the Buddha, part of a sculpture depicting the scenes from the life of the Buddha, from Nagarjunakonda, National Museum, New Delhi


Thus, Nagarjunakonda or Vijayapuri was a metropolis in a true sense. The royals and the masses, the military and the monks, artisans, traders and foreigners all co-existing peacefully and making it a remarkable place in the interiors of Palnad of Andhra Pradesh. However, this was not to be forever.

The river of timeIronically, despite its name, the city of Victory

could not win over adversity. Like its residents, this city also lived and died by the river. In its long struggle to cope with vagaries of the river and its rising levels, the once prosperous metropolis had to be abandoned. The port silted up, pulling trade down to a mere trickle. Its end seems to have come swiftly with most of the population probably relocating away from the valley and the political centre shifting upland with a new dynasty. Some of the Brahmanical shrines were still in use, probably occasionally visited by the worshippers

who no more lived there. In the medieval times, a fort came up on one of the highest hillocks, but the valley never revisited its bygone prosperity. Many centuries later, in the 1950’s, the area was selected for the largest masonry dam construction in the world which was successfully executed. The past bowed to the future and the backwaters submerged the whole site. The river finally won.

However, it could not take away all. As noted earlier, the salvage and restoration of major architectural remains was successfully carried out along with the construction of a site museum near the medieval fort, on the hillock which now remains as an island. The amphitheatre, the ghat and some of the shrines were relocated at Anupu, the present eastern shore of the river. Today, they are the only mute remnants of a mighty metropolis now lost to the river of time.

Frieze depicting events from the life of Buddha and Jataka stories from Nagarjunakonda, National Museum, New Delhi

Slab depicting a stupa with the image of King Mandhata from Nagarjunakonda, National Museum, New Delhi

Slab showing the auspicious symbols like the pots, stupas and Triratnas from Nagarjunakonda, National Museum, New Delhi


The Ghats of MaheshwarSimple Grandeur

Walk down the wide steps of the historic ‘ghats’ of Maheshwar, and allow the graceful Narmada river to wash away your worries.

Varsha GajendragadkarPhotographs © Milind Dhere


A serene river flows by. Wide steps lead down gently to the waterfront. Typically, ‘ghats’ adorn the banks of most Indian rivers when they flow through towns or past temples, and have a significance that is both religious and practical. For many, life begins, is sustained by, and eventually ends on the ghats. Early morning sees devotees praying and carrying out their rituals on the river front. Later during the day, women carry out their daily chores like filling water and washing clothes, and children play by the water. Often, village elders or panchayats hold their meetings at a ghat. And ultimately, cremations are held on ghats, with the ashes later immersed in the flowing waters. Traditional Indian life, therefore, is intertwined with the ebb and flow of the river.

For many devotees, rivers are not just life-sustaining on a practical basis, but are sacred. Flowing waters, especially those of the river Ganga, wash away sins, and purify the soul. Gatherings such as the KumbhMela, where an incredible number of devotees gather on the ghats to pray and immerse themselves in sanctified waters are world famous.

The Narmada river in central India is considered to be one of the five holy rivers of India, and has many well-known ghats along its expansive stream. Maheshwar, on the banks of the Narmada is famous for both, its riverfront ghats, and the temples alongside them. Still breathing the spirit of its most famous

Inner wall of the entrance Varanda on the inner side of the entrance


Shiva Temple and its premises

Figures of elephants carved on the foundation stone of Shiva Temple View of Sun Temple

79Heritage India August 2012 - October 2012 Volume 5 Issue 3Entrance of Ahilya Ghat adorned with carvings


ruler AhilyabaiHolkar (1725 – 1795), Maheshwar seems to reflect the aura of her personality – resolute, pious, simple and still majestic. During her reign, Ahilyabai embellished the city with a number of buildings, a fort and constructed public facilities such as ghats, ‘dharmashalas’ (shelters for pilgrims), ‘annachhatras’ (a facility for food alongside roads), and ‘panpois’ (drinking water facilities). Her influence was instrumental in transforming Maheshwar from a sleepy riverside town to a prosperous and majestic capital.

Before AhilyabaiGoing further back in time,

archaeological studies show that Maheshwar dates back all the way to the Stone Age. Opposite the city of Maheshwar, archaeologists have unearthed the remains of an extensive habitation site called ‘Navadatoli’, on the southern bank of the river Narmada. Large scale archaeological excavations were carried out at Navadatoli, which revealed evidence from the Stone Age to the 18th century. Today it is considered as one of the most important excavations undertaken to understand the Central Indian Chalcolithic cultures. During the early historical period, it was known as ‘Mahishmati’. It was part of the Kalachuri empire during the 5th – 6th centuries CE. The Kalachuris, initially feudatories of the Chalukyas, rose to rule a large kingdom including Malwa, southern Rajasthan and northern Maharashtra. Traditionally it is believed to have been the capital of King Kartavirya Arjuna or Sahastrarjuna.

The name ‘Maheshwar’ itself comes from ‘Mahesh’, a name for Lord Shiva. The literal meaning of the word ‘maheshwar’ thus is ‘the abode of Lord Shiva’, which reflects the close connection of this ‘City of Temples’ with Lord Shiva. In fact, the one hundred plus temples in the town tell of the long history of Maheshwar. The temples of Maheshwar are best recognised by their carved pendant balconies with elevated spires and intricately carved doorways. The prominent temples at Maheshwar include the RajarajeshwarMandir, the KashiVishwanathMandir, the Chaturbhuj Ganesh Mandir, the PandharinathMandir, the BhavaniMandir, BankeBihari, the Anant Narayan Mandir, Khedapati Hanuman, the Ram and Krishna Mandir. In addition to these temples, the Baneshwar, Kaleshwar, Jwaleshwar and Narsinh temples are also famous for their vibrant natural surroundings. The EkmukhiDatta temple, in which the idol of Lord Datta

has just one face instead of the usual three, has been constructed recently. It is also known as the Shiva DattaDham. The main attractions in this temple are the beautiful idols of EkmukhiDatta and Lord Ganesh. Most of the temples contain intricate carvings. The view of these temples along the river Narmada creates an aura of peace and calm.

Living historyThe ghats of the city, named after various

dynasties, give Maheshwar its distinctive look. These

Pendant balconies and carvings on the entrance wall


China gallery

Carved window on the entrance wall


Shiva and Sun temple


The Sahastrarjuna temple on the banks of the Narmada has attracted the most admiration and devotees. Locals narrate an interesting legend associated with this temple. According to this legend, there was a battle between King Sahastrarjuna and Ravana, the king of Lanka. Although armed to the hilt, the mighty Ravana was in for a huge surprise. Sahastrarjuna with his thousand arms pinned Ravana to the ground. Then he placed ten lamps on Ravana’s ten heads and one on his hand. After tying up Ravana, Sahastrarjuna dragged him to his palace and tied him to the pole of his son’s cradle. Humiliated, Ravana stayed there as a prisoner until his release was secured. Even today the Sahastrarjunatemple at Maheshwar lights eleven lamps in memory of Ravana’s defeat.

Photographs on this page by Sachin Naik


spacious and beautiful stone features present a vivid picture of a religious city. Pilgrims and holy men spending hours at these ghats in silent meditation; the rows of poised women carrying glittering brass pots down to the life-giving river and the ferry boats crossing and re-crossing the gushing waters are memorable sights. Standing on these ghats and watching a pristine and enigmatic Narmada flow past, near enough to wash one’s feet is a near-divine experience. On a more sombre note, these ghats are also silent witnesses to the tragedies of the past – many of them have various mausoleums carved in stone to commemorate the ‘satis’ (women who immolated themselves on the funeral pyres of their husbands) of Maheshwar. One among these is of Muktabai, a daughter of Ahilyabai.

The massive fort complex of the Holkars on the bank of Narmada presents an uncommon charm of architectural grandeur. It is quite different from Mughal as well as Dravidian architecture. Though the fort is not decorated with intricate carving, the unmatched combination of design, spaciousness and simplicity creates a marvel to behold. As a visitor, you are tempted

to inhale the fragrance of a bygone era, retracing steps taken centuries ago across the historic courtyard, wander across the verandahs, peep out of the large windows, wondering whether you are standing where the queen, Ahilyabai herself once stood.

Maheshwar has been known for its cotton handloom weaving for many centuries and Maheshwar weaves were further popularised thanks to the patronage of the Holkar royal family. Even today, the city is home to one of India’s finest handloom fabric traditions. The typical Maheshwar sari is woven from cotton and has a plain body or sometimes stripes or checks for variation. Their origin in the 20th century can be traced to the

Fortification of Holkar fort adjacent to Ahilya ghat

Shiva Temple in the fort


establishment of the Rehwa Society, a self-help group founded by Richard and Sally Holkar of the Holkar dynasty in 1979, to provide employment to the local women and to revive the town’s textile tradition. The weaving centre is located in one of Maheshwar’s historic buildings on the banks of the Narmada. About one hundred and thirty weavers associated with the Rehwa Society produce over one lakh meters of fabric every year.

This once royal city has non-urban warmth about it. In fact, the palace of Rani Ahilyabai typifies this ambience. Simple, yet regal, one can literally imagine the widowed queen in a simple white sari and

devoid of any ornaments, spending hours in her shrine, praying before a huge shivalinga.

There is a lithograph at the entrance of this palace, revealing the very spirit of Ahilyabai. “God has given me the responsibility of making my subjects happy. I am answerable to God for everything I am doing here as a ruler. I do not own anything. I am just giving everyone what he/ she owns. Whatever I take is a debt which I might not be able to repay.”

Ultimately, she took nothing, but left behind instead eloquent spaces, and the embodiment of her vision as a ruler in the beautiful ghats of Maheshwar.

Ahilya ghat


The coins of the Kushans offer remarkable insight into religious and cultural traditions at the beginning of the Common Era. They are proof of an interconnectedness that existed far before modern-day globalisation.

Moon God ‘Mao’ on the reverse of a Kushan coin


The Kushans were a nomadic tribe from the Central Asian steppes who founded a vast empire in the early centuries of the first millennium CE. Their empire extended from Uzbekistan to Central India in today’s geographical context. The Kushan period witnessed a rapid growth in trade networks between the West and the East along the fabled ‘Silk Road’. The trade was also largely responsible for the patronage Buddhism received during the Kushan heydays. A direct outcome of this was the flourishing of the Gandhara and Mathura schools of Indian Art.

Recent advances in historical research have made possible a better understanding of Kushan dynastic history. Now we can date the accession of Kanishka, the greatest Kushan ruler, comfortably to 127 CE, as evidenced by a chronological calculation given in a Sanskrit text called the Yavanajātaka. His reign is now convincingly fixed between 127 – 152 CE. We also know that he was preceded by his father Wima Kadphises (c. 110 – 127 CE), his grand-father Wima Takho or Wima Takto (c. 80 – 110 CE), and by his great-grandfather Kujula Kadphises (c. 40 – 80 CE) – as detailed in an inscription found at Rabatak in Afghanistan. It was well-known that Huvishka (c. 190-220 CE) and Vasudeva I (c. 190 – 220 CE) succeeded Kanishka. A further dynastic succession has now been traced, comprising of Kanishka II, Vasishka, Vasudeva II and Kanishka III, followed by rulers with acronymic names, such as Shaka, Mahi and Kipunadha, ultimately leading to the end of the dynasty around c. 325 CE.

The unique characteristics of Kushan coinsKushan coins have formed an important source

of evidence for tracing history. The Kushan coinage is

unique insofar as it is the earliest extensively struck gold coinage in India. It is also unique in one other way: it utilises an extensive range of gods and goddesses as representations alongside the image of the ruler. There is evidence available to indicate that the Kushan kings saw their kingship legitimised by divine mediation. As rulers, they also saw their position as of a divine rank – ‘Devaputra’ or ‘son of the gods’ was a popular title held by most Kushan kings and they created sanctuaries where alongside the divine icons, their own images were consecrated.

This is well-reflected in their coinage. The coins of the first two rulers, Kujula Kadphises and Wima Takto are mostly derivative of earlier coin types and as far as motifs are concerned, they merely copy them from their predecessor’s coinages. However, with the accession of Wima Kadphises we witness a paradigm shift: not only does Wima launch a large gold coinage for the first time, but he also very clearly establishes himself as a semi-divine figure through his coins. On the reverse of his coins, we see the Hindu god Shiva with esoteric yogic attributes, often carrying a lion-skin cloaked over one of his hands and holding a trident in his other hands (Fig 1). Sometimes he has three heads, one of which is distinctly of a goat. The legends inscribed in Kharoshthi identify Wima Kadphises with two of Shiva’s own appellations – Sarwalok-īshwara and Mahīshwara.

On some of Wima’s gold coins, the king is shown with supernatural attributes like flaming shoulders. He is perched atop a mountain, or seated on a royal throne, and the sleeve of his left hand is shown carefully extended to cover it fully. This is in accordance with the Zoroastrian practice of covering the

Fig 1 - Coin of Wima Kadphises with Shiva on the reverse


Earlier on, Kanishka’s choice of language for inscriptions on the obverse of his coins was Greek, much like his father’s and the deities appearing on Kanishka’s coins have Greek names - Helios, the sun god and Salene, the moon god. But it is evident from their attire that they were actually from the Iranian pantheon. Soon afterwards, Kanishka opted for the Bactrian language on his coins; it was inscribed in a hybrid Graeco-Bactrian script incorporating special letter forms to represent phonetic sounds like ‘sh’ not originally present in Greek language. Consequently, the names of the deities on the reverse were also inscribed in this hybrid Graeco-Bactrian script and we see them referred to by their Iranian names. Thus, Helios became Miiro (Fig. 2) or the Iranian Mihira while Salene became Mao, the Iranian Mah.

With these, a whole host of Iranian gods and goddesses appeared on Kanishka’s coins. Chief amongst them are the fertility goddesses Nana (Fig. 3), who is known more by her Zoroastrian name, Anahita, the

‘defiling’ left hand while in divine presence and is indicative of Wima’s choice to be depicted in presence of other divinities, even though they themselves are not visible in the picture.

Kings and godsDuring Wima’s son’s (i.e. Kanishka’s) reign,

divine representation on coins took a further stride. The reverse now contained only the representation of a deity, identified by an accompanying ‘label’ inscription. Kanishka himself is shown conducting a sacrifice at an altar, dressed in full central Asian attire comprising of pointed headgear, a tunic, a cloaked coat and heavy boots. Performing the sacrifice was a kingly right, and the deity on the reverse is often shown making a gesture of blessing. This reflects on the fact that the obverse and reverse depictions are tied up in a contextual alignment with each other – the king offers the sacrifice to exercise his kingship, while the deity sanctifies the right and the performer by blessing them, and thus legitimises the king’s position.

Fig 2 - Coin of Kanishka with Miiro (Sun) on the reverse

Fig 3 - Coin of Kanishka with Nana (Anahita) on the reverse


goddess of fertile waters, and Ardokhsho, the Iranian equivalent of the Indian Lakshmi in being a goddess of fertility and plenitude. Athsho, the god of fire, and Pharro, the god representing ‘the royal fortune’ are also represented. All these deities are draped in flowing costumes and are shown with their attributes – Nana carries a sceptre (sometimes with a horse’s head), Ardokhsho a cornucopia or ‘horn of plenty’ (Fig. 4), and Athsho carries pliers while flames emanate out of his body. Pharro carries a pot of money in one of his hands (Fig. 5) and thus is identified also with Panchika, the Buddhist version of Kubera, the lord of wealth.

Kanishka also portrayed lesser known Iranian gods, namely Lrooaspo, a god of horses and Orlagno (Fig. 6), the Zoroastrian Verethragna, on his coins. The former is shown as an elderly man accompanied by a horse, while the latter appears holding a standard and carrying a sword, conspicuously sporting a helmet surmounted with a bird. Another rare depiction of an equestrian god to appear on Kanishka’s coins is Mozdoano, who in all likelihood the supreme Iranian god Mazda. He rides a double-headed horse.

Indian influencesAmongst those deities belonging to the Indic

pantheon, Kanishka, like his father Wima, gave precedence to Shiva, who is shown as Oesho (Fig. 7) on the coins. Although this name can be derived from Hawesh, one of Shiva’s names, it has been suggested that the icon actually represents an Iranian god of high mountain winds, known as Wesh, who is then garbed as Shiva. Oesho is shown four-handed, carrying a dead antelope in one and pouring libation waters from a pot held in another. His two remaining hands hold the familiar attributes of the trident and the damaru.

Fig 4 - Coin of Kanishka with Ardokhsho on the reverse

Fig 7 - Coin of Kanishka with Oesho on the reverse

Fig 5 - Coin of Kanishka with Pharro on the reverse

Fig 6 - Coin of Kanishka with Lrooaspo on the reverse


The pantheon represented on coins grows even further in the reign of Huvishka, Kanishka’s successor. On his coins, we not only see most of the Iranian gods described above (Fig. 8), but also iconic representations from the Greek, Roman and Indic traditions, and a few choice ‘locative’ deities. The Iranian representations are extended further by addition of Oanindo, the victory goddess (Fig. 9) and counterpart of the Greek Nike. The Indian gods represented now also include Maaseno (Mahasena), Skando-Komaro (Skanda Kumara) and Bizago (Vishakha) – all war gods later assimilated into Kartikeya, the son of Shiva. Maaseno is depicted with his chief attribute, the cockerel-standard (Fig. 10), while the other two are depicted as a conjugate representation, each carrying a long javelin. There is a rare type wherein all three are depicted together, standing inside a Romanesque sanctuary (Fig. 11). Amongst the Greek gods, we have Eraklio (Heracles) and Athena, labelled as the Iranian Rishti. Amongst the locative deities we see Oaksho, which is identified as the river god of Oxus, depicted as a cloaked man holding a staff and carrying a large river fish in his hands. Iranian gods like Lrooaspo also appear on Huvishka’s rare issues, but by far the more common is the Iranian war god Shaoreoro (Shahrewar), shown dressed like a Macedonian soldier (Fig. 12).

Fig 8 - Coin of Huvishka with Nanna on the reverseFig 9 - Coin of Huvishka with Oanindo on the reverse

Fig 10 - Coin of Huvishka with Maaseno on the reverse

Fig 11 - Coin of Huvishka with Skando – Kumaro and Maaseno on the reverse

Fig 12 - Coin of Huvishka with Shaoreoro on the reverse


By far the most significant deity to appear on any Kushan coin is the Buddha, identified on Kanishka’s gold coins as Boddo. The first such coin was discovered by Maj. Gen. Alexander Cunningham in a deposit when he excavated the stupa at Ahinposh in Afghanistan and it now lies in the British Museum (Fig. 13). The placement accorded to Buddha in a pantheonic context when it comes to numismatic representation proves beyond doubt that the Kanishka regarded the Buddha as a god and not just a historic personality. The fact that Kanishka was deeply influenced by Buddhism later in his reign and contributed actively to hold a major Buddhist monastic conference at Peshawar, his capital, makes more obvious the choice of the depiction of Buddha on his coins.

Kanishka and Huvishka employ depictions of obscure and less-known deities on their coins, which is a great help to iconography. Some of these gods perhaps represented short-lived assimilative cults, which ‘combined’ merits of more than one deity into one personification. Noteworthy in this respect is Manaobago, who is a four-armed male deity, wearing a helmet and seated in a throne. In two of his hands, he holds a plough and a wheel (chakra), alluding to the cults of Indian deities Vasudeva Krishna and Sankarshana Balarama (Fig. 14). In one hand he holds a money bag, indicative of Kubera and also of Pharro the Iranian god of royal fortune and in the other he holds a torque, which is an indication of his divine legitimisation of the king. In addition to all these

Fig 13 - Coin of Kanishka with Buddha on the reverse

Fig 14 - Coin of Huvishka with Manaobago on the reverse


aspects, he also sports a crescent across his shoulders, alluding to his ‘lunar’ nature.

The tremendous variation in divine representation we see on Kanishka’s and Huvishka’s coins comes to an end during the reigns of their successors. Vasudeva I, the first Kushan king to sport a completely Indian name, chooses Shiva (Oesho) reclining against Nandi the bull (Fig. 15), much like his forerunner Wima Kadphises did, but here Shiva holds a diadem in his extended hand which is a direct reference to the task of divine legitimisation he is shown to carry. Further on in the dynastic order, Ardokhsho seated on a throne becomes the reverse type of choice for successive rulers like Vasishka, Vasudeva II and Kanishka II. She too holds a diadem (Fig. 16) - which assumes an indigenous form of a noose or Paasha when the Guptas, as successors to the Kushans, employ a reverse type showing Lakshmi that is directly derived from the Kushan Ardokhsho.

The pantheon that the Kushans chose to represent on their coins offers us a window into religious and cultic ideas of their times. The representations are remarkably syncretic to appeal to an audience from different cultural backgrounds. Shiva also is Wesh as identified by the inscription accompanying him, Rishti looks exactly like Athena, Pharro with his pot of money is also identified with Panchika. We can also see forms of deities with interesting cross-cultural takes on their identity: on a type of Huvishka’s coins, the Iranian Nana or Anahita rides on a lion (Fig. 17), pre-figuring the Hindu Durga of later period. Developments like these help us to study the icon as it evolves and offers an excellent understanding of how iconic features originate,

evolve and are influenced by cross-cultural contacts. In our current world, full of divisions and differences, they stand a golden testimony to demonstrate how interconnected, nuanced and mutually influenced the interaction between humankind was almost 2000 years ago.

Some coins illustrated in the article are from the collections of Ashmolean Museum, UK.

Fig 15 - Coin of Vasudeva I with Shiva on the reverse

Fig 16 - Coin of Vasishka with Ardokhsho on the reverse

Fig 17 - Coin of Vasudeva II with Anahita on the reverse


StellaKramrisch

In an age when most European scholars were deriding Indian art, Stella Kramrisch dove headfirst into its history and uncovered proof of its ancient and rich lineage.

A.P. Jamkhedkar

Photographs © Dr. Jitendra Kshirasagar, Prachi ChaudhariSketch by Rasika Kale

The uprising of 1857 brought about great changes in the attitude of the ruling class and the government of Great Britain. A new era began with the declaration of the Queen of England as the Empress of India, who took over the rule of India for herself. Even though the war of independence of 1857 is dismissed by some modern Indian historians as attempted due to the vested interests of the feudal lords, it is an accepted fact that the rule of East India Company was not only politically oppressive and economically exploitative but also


Sadashiv at Elephanta

religiously aggressive. A section of Hindus, Muslims and Parsis was suspicious about the secular English education imparted through the convent schools. The Queen in her declaration had to assure the people of India that she was restricting her monarchical right to convert her subjects to Christianity.

There was another side to this story. A fairly good section of British officers and rulers in India like Justice Erskine Perry, Justice Gibbs, Mount Stuart

Elphinston, and Sir Bartle had a good understanding of and respect for local tradition and culture. They wanted through modern English education to bring about an upliftment of the native population and went to considerable exertion for this goal. The positive response which the petitions forwarded by the Bombay Association received in both the houses of the British Parliament and the help which non-political organizations like the India Reform Society and the British India Society extended to the politically conceived Bombay Association is noteworthy. There was this awareness among the British officers who served in India and the elite among the British and the representatives in the Parliament. The Archaeological Survey of India was established in 1862. The goal of such an undertaking was to study and preserve the cultural heritage of a country that spoke one of the most ancient Indo-European languages, viz. Sanskrit and the rich literature it was endowed with. The establishment in 1774 of the Royal Asiatic Society of Bengal, of the Bombay branch (1804), the Treasure Trove Act of India (1874), and later the Ancient monuments - Sites and Remains Act (1905) were a part of this awareness.

The common European perceptionMatters were not very heartening in the field of

religious thought, history or art history. Max Muller, a known authority in comparative religion, thought Hinduism to be ripe enough now to be crowned with Christianity. The history of India, the European historians observed, was only of defeats and of conquests by foreigners who entered India through the North West Frontier regions. The Aryan ancestors of the Hindus, after mixing with the pagan, autochthonous tribes had lost all their valour and intellect, characteristic of races from northern hemisphere, it was thought; and also that the races of southern hemisphere were effeminate and incapable of any artistic activity. The idolatrous Hindus worshipped gods endowed with more than two hands, legs and a head; it was, if at all art, monstrous art! Indian art could be considered worth its name only when it was influenced by the Achaemenids, Greeks, Romans and Persians. The J.J School of Art established in Bombay, was, in initial years, for training in crafts in which the Indians were supposed to be good. They had to be later trained in classical sculpture and painting. In this noise of denunciation, it was James Fergusson who struck a different chord, saying that the Buddhist rock-cut temples were specimens of true architecture, which could not be said even of the specimens of neo classical architecture that were being raised in contemporary Europe and Britain. Following him there were others like Havell, who championed the cause of Indian art in the polemics that rose in the art historical studies of India. More powerful was the voice of Ananda K. Coomaraswamy, who denounced


the nasty and purposeful disintegration of native crafts and arts brought about by the economically motivated, exploitative colonial policies of the British Raj. He supported the Swadeshi movement and was striving to develop new aesthetic of Indian art, explaining its symbolic meaning and spiritual content. Stella Kramrisch was an admirer of Coomaraswamy.

Her life and timesStella Kramrisch was born in Nikelsberg (now

Mikulov in Czech Republic), on May 29th 1896. At the age of 10, her family moved to Vienna, where she

was initiated in the study of Greek, Latin and German philosophy. Later when she started studying art history, a course in London also included the study of Sanskrit. She studied for her Ph.D. under Prof. Strzygowski and was awarded, in 1919, the degree for her dissertation on early Buddhist sculpture. In 1920, while she was lecturing in Oxford, she met Rabindranath Tagore who invited her to Shanti Niketan, where she taught for three years (1920-23). She then joined the University of Calcutta as the first Professor of Indian Art and continued there till 1950. In the meanwhile, she converted to Hinduism and got married.

In 1950, after her husband’s assassination in Pakistan, she shifted from Kolkata to Philadelphia, where she became a Professor of Art in the University of Pennsylvania and was the curator of the Indian section of the Philadelphia Museum of Art. From 1964 onwards, she was also a Professor of Art in New York University till 1982. Besides these assignments, she was invited to lecture by different institutes. She continued to be the curator of the Indian section of the Philadelphia Museum of Art till her death. She also bequeathed her collection of art and her archives, including photographs of architecture, sculpture and paintings, to the same museum. In appreciation of her

contribution to the field of art and oriental civilisations, universities from different countries, foreign and Indian, honored her with medals and degrees honoriscausa. The government of India conferred on her the Padma Bhushan for stimulating interest in the artistic heritage of India and the philosophy underlying it.

Sarah Newhouse, who worked on Stella Kramrisch’s art collection, made an observation that gives an insight into the personality of the scholar: “The collection actually seems to be very much like Stella Kramrisch herself; full of information, very valuable and obviously loved, but at times difficult to work with.”

A sympathetic approachIn her early days, Stella Kramrisch was

influenced by theosophy, and her approach was metaphysical. And that is why when she studied the Hindu Temple, her study was distinctly different in approach from those of James Fergusson, Alexander Cunningham and J. Burgess. There was no tradition of image worship in India, in the earliest works of religious art, Buddha was represented not as an image but in an aniconic form, still earlier in the Vedic times, there were no temples either. The first image of Buddha and the epic and puranic gods appear on the coins of the Kushans. This practice of Kushans, as present research shows, was an imitation of the coins of Indo-

Bactrians, and aimed at the legitimisation of their own rule. The earliest temples we find are at Takshashila (such as the temple of Jandial). Cunningham, when he discovered the so called flat roofed stone temples thought them to have been fashioned in imitation of Greek temples. Stella Kramrisch, on the other hand, explains the concept of Vastupurusha, as hidden in the grid of the plan of the shrine and as manifested in the standing edifice. In this connection she also considers the Vedic concept of Vastoshpati. Thus a vivid picture of a Hindu temple and the meaning inscribed in it emerges.

Another important work is the Presence of Shiva that takes a review of the myths of the god, right from the time when he was known as Rudra, the terrible, and then as Rudra-Shiva, the ambivalent god who creates and destroys the world. Many of his representations could not be understood, as these were seeped with the meaning as understood from the philosophy of Shaiva Agamas. For example, the iconographic scheme in the cave at Elephanta had remained a riddle till she explained it. There are three ways the god is represented: in the form of a linga in a four-door shrine; as a huge bust in the back wall of the temple, when entered from the north, and in the form of the eight

Temple at Khajuraho


observation that there were influences on Indian art even before the Greeks, Romans and the Persians, in the form of the nomadic people before the Christian era, but these were assimilated by the Indian artists. For example, a Hellenistic influence can be seen in the form of realism that was assimilated in the Gupta art.

Stella Kramrisch’s research has been something like a landmark in the development of Indian art historical studies and has left a deep impression on scholars of modern generation like M. A. Dhaky, Maxwell and Carol Bolon, to mention only a few.

panels that delineate the cosmic events that took place with Shiva as the main figure. These manifestations of Shiva are known through agamas as Parashiva and described as nishkala (without a perceptible form), the five-headed Sadashiva, sakala–nishkala (partly perceptible form), and Maheshvara, sakala (with a perceptible form). When Shiva is shown in the form of a linga, that is his nishkala form, when shown with four or five heads that is Sadashiva, with his sakal-nishkala form - the fifth head of Ishana never a subject of the human eyes, and when shown with normal attributes of Shiva, known otherwise from the legends, he is Maheshvara. Sadashiva is a stage between the unknowable, nishkalashiva and the Maheshvarashiva who is usually approached by common man through devotion. The Sadashiva is endowed with five energies, omniscience (jnana), omnipotence (kriya), self-will (iccha), veiling away from this world (tirodhaana) and revealing himself to the devout (prasada). As the later research done following the footsteps of Stella Kramrisch, now we realise that the plan of the cave and the iconographic scheme have been designed specifically to suit the needs of an initiate in the Pashupata order.

Indian religious thoughtIn order to understand the views of Stella

Kramrisch on sculpture, painting and art in general of India, one has to know something about the development of religious thought and the place of image worship in the spiritual practice in India. The Upanishads exhort that the first principle, the brahman, has to be a subject of learning, deep thought and constant musing and meditation. You cannot meditate straight away on brahman, that is beyond normal perception and thus indescribable; as such, the meditation has to start with the gross and then can end with the subtle. With the development of the agamas and introduction of image worship, when the initiate starts, he meditates on a gross object, an image of his personal God.

While differentiating between the Greek and the Hindu sculpture, Kramrisch makes it clear that while for the Greek sculptor, the physical is the prerequisite, it is the subtle body for the Hindu sculptor, for which the yoga discipline is essential. When the sculptor meditates, the image is embossed from within by the movement of the breath, the image is filled with the living breath and at the end is equivalent to the breath of the God.

The variation in the intensity of spirituality may affect the quality of work in individual artistes; but, according to Stella Kramrisch, there has been continuity in India and therefore the distinctive quality of Indian sculpture has remained the same. She makes a further

The Works of Stella KramrischAfter Stella Kramrisch’s zealous career

spanning 70 years, she left behind a large number of books including her original writings and translations of ancient texts, texts of lectures delivered, research notes, photographs and her correspondence with other scholars. Some of the important books, her own and jointly written, include the following:

Principles of Indian Art (1924)

History of Indian Art (1929)

Indian Sculpture (1932)

A survey of Indian Paintings in the Deccan (1937)

Indian Terracottas (1939)

Kantha (1939)

The Hindu Temple (1946)

Arts and Crafts of Travancore (1948)

Lingaraja (1950)

Art of India through Ages (1950)

The Presence of Shiva (1981)

Besides these, there were exhibitions that resulted in catalogues. Unknown India: Arts and Crafts of Travancore (1948), Ritual Art in Tribes and Villages (1968), Manifestation of Shiva (1981). An exhibition of antiquities in Stella Kramrisch’s collection was held in 1999 with the title, “Threads of Cotton and Threads of Brass: Arts of India”.

While in India, she edited (1934-50) the Journal of the Indian Society of Oriental Art. Her selected writings were published in 1983 under the title Exploring India’s Sacred Art (Ed. Barbara Stoler Miller).


Bengali ScriptA Journey Through Time

Bengali, that has kept alive literature and lore and is the living social medium of the people of West Bengal, Bangladesh and parts of Tripura and Assam, is a vibrant language that has seen its script evolve over the centuries.

Sayantani PalPhotographs © Directorate of Archaeology and Museums, West BengalCharts by Sayantani Pal


Bengali, that has kept alive literature and lore and is the living social medium of the people of West Bengal, Bangladesh and parts of Tripura and Assam, is a vibrant language that has seen its script evolve over the centuries.

The evolution of any language is a fascinating story in itself. And in the case of a language as rich as Bengali, one discovers that its roots go all the way back to the 3rd century B.C.E when we find Brahmi, the earliest deciphered script of our country, in the edicts of Asoka, the Mauryan Emperor. Considered to be the mother of all Indian scripts, Brahmi, appears in an inscription from Mahasthan in the Bogra District of Bangladesh. From the 4th to the middle of the 6th century i.e during the Gupta period, writing styles began to be localized. Gradually regional styles developed out of them.

In the period between the 6th and the 10th centuries ‘Siddhamtrika’ was the character widely used in North India. J.F.Fleet, a famous epigraphist, named this script ‘Kutila’ because the right vertical limbs of its letters were slightly bent. As a result of this bending the verticals made an acute angle with the base line. This made G. Buehler, a well known German linguist of the

19th century, term it ‘acute-angled’. Regional characters like Nagari and Gaudi evolved out of it.

The term ‘Gaudi’ has been given to a script that was used in Purvadesa (Eastern country) setting it apart from Siddhamtrika by Alberuni in the 11th century. So it appears that the script of eastern India had developed its own distinct features by that time. One of the distinguishing features of Gaudi letters is that they often have a hook at the top. Modern eastern Indian scripts like Bengali, Maithili, Oriya and Assamese all evolved out of Gaudi.

The eastern variety of the Gupta alphabet was first identified by Buehler because of the peculiar forms of ‘la’, ‘ha’, cerebral ‘sa’ and dental ‘sa’. The famous Allahabad Prasasti of Samudragupta, the Gupta monarch,

is said to have contained the fully developed form of this type. A.H. Dani, a noted palaeographist, however, points out that the so-called letters of the Eastern Gupta alphabet were long in use in the inscriptions of the Magha rulers of Kausambi. So he has called it the ‘Kausambi style’.

The Susunia Rock inscription of a ruler called Chandarvarman from the Bankura District of West Bengal bears the influence of the Kausambi style in the looped dental ‘na’, open-mouthed cerebral ‘na’ with loop at the left, tailed ‘ma’, hooked ‘ha’ and looped dental ‘sa’.

The establishment of Gupta authority in the northern part of undivided Bengal in the 4th century ushered in a period when official documents began regularly being written on permanent materials. In their land grant charters (dated between 432 – 543 C.E.) we notice a peculiar way in expressing the medial ā [aa /

long a], by adding a stroke in the form of a hook to the right bottom of the letter in the Damodarpur copper plate of C.E. 444 and 482. This was first noticed in the Susunia Rock inscription and also in the Allahabad

VowelsDevelopment of the Bengali Script from Gupta Brahmi to Proto-Bengali / Gaudi

Letter forms in the Susunia Rock Inscription

Three forms of ya in the Faridpur Plates


examined the Pala and Chandra inscriptions between 875 and 1025 C.E. and pointed out that solid triangle head marks persist in the Bangarh copper plate and the Narayanpur (Comilla) image of Mahipala I. Even the right vertical continued to bend. But he traced a tendency to close down the mouths of ‘pa’, ‘ma’,’ ya’ and ‘sa’ by lengthening the vertical horizontally in the Badal pillar inscription of Narayanapala (last quarter of 9th and 1st quarter of 10th century). According to him, this was characteristic of Gaudi in the beginning of 10th century. In the 2nd quarter of 11th century some inscriptions of the Palas and Chandras show the flattening of the head mark.

A survey of the inscriptions of Bengal up to the 11th century reveals that the whole area from Bihar (and also parts of U.P) to south eastern Bengal does not show any pronounced regional tendency in the matter of script. Gaudi or Proto-Bengali was yet to

establish itself as a distinct regional script. Again its origin is to be found in the records of the rulers who were essentially rooted to Bengal, e.g., the Ramganj copper plate of Isvaraghosa (c.1040-1080 C.E.), ruling in North Bengal and those of the Chandras and the Varmans ruling in the eastern and south eastern part of present Bangladesh. In the Ramganj plate, the letter ‘ta’ appeared with a tick rising upwards. The initial ‘e’ approaches the modern Bengali character. These

Prasasti. There was also confusion between the cerebral ‘sa’ and dental ‘sa’ in these inscriptions and the cerebral ‘sa’ is replaced by dental ‘sa’. In modern Bengali pronunciation too, no distinction is made between the three types of ‘sa’.

In the middle of the 6th century, immediately after the Guptas, three local rulers, Dharmaditya, Gopachandra and Samachradeva, based in the Faridpur region of present Bangladesh issued copper plate charters following the Gupta model.Three forms of ‘ya’ appear in these charters. F.E Pargiter, who edited the inscriptions, suggests that the first is early, the middle is intermediate and the third is the new form of ‘ya’. It is also interesting to note that in the mid-Ganga valley this new form of dual ‘ya’ together with the old form appear in the Haraha inscription of Maukhari Isanavarman dated C.E. 554. Besides, other new letter forms for ‘la’ and ‘ha’ which are noticeable in the inscriptions of the Maukharis of Magadha and Kanauj appear in the Faridpur charters. This shows the linkage of this peripheral area with the mid-Ganga valley which was the core area of Brahmanical culture.

In the 7th century the Tippera and the Kailan plates from the Comilla region of Bangladesh show many features of the writing style of the mid-Ganga valley. Right verticals are bent (Kutila). New form of ‘ka’ appeared in the Comilla plate of Lokanatha and continued in the Ashrafpur plates of the Khadga dynasty. ‘Va’ gradually takes the new form as noticed in Siddhamtrika script. It may be pointed out that ‘ba’ fell out of use in the inscription of Bengal from this period onwards.

The Pala dynasty was one of the most long-lived dynasties of eastern India. Capturing power in the middle of the eighth century, it continued to rule in parts of Bihar and North Bengal up to the 12th century, playing an important role in the shaping of the Bengali script. In the inscriptions of Dharmapala and Devapala we notice a wide vertical line on the right. Both the looped as well as the Nagari variety of palatal ‘sa’ are noticeable. In the typical conjuncts of the Bengali script, the original letters are often unrecognizable. This is due to the practice of shortening or placing the components horizontally. This feature appears in the conjuncts ‘ksha’, ‘kshma’ and ‘nna’ of these inscriptions.

Though it appears from Alberuni’s comment that Gaudi became a distinct script by the eleventh century, it is difficult to trace the differences. A. Bhattacharya

ConsonantsDevelopment of the Bengali Script from Gupta Brahmi to Proto-Bengali / Gaudi


characters are of utmost importance in the development of the Bengali script.

A manuscript from the reign of Harivarman, the ruler of the Varman dynasty of Bangladesh in the 1st half of the 12th century, bears the form of ‘ri’, short and long ‘li’.

The flattening of the triangular head mark led to the development of hooks issuing out of the left corners of the serifs. This is seen in the inscriptions of the Sena kings, Vijayasena and Lakshmanasena. In the inscriptions of the Senas of Bengal (end of 11th – middle of 13th century) many letters assumed the form nearer to modern Bengali script.

One important characteristic feature of the Bengali language is the absence of any distinction between ‘va’ and ‘ba’, both in writing and in pronunciation. This feature can be traced to records as far back as the 7th century in the Comilla copper plate of Lokanatha. This led to the omission of the square ‘ba’. Another feature is the pronunciation of the conjunct ‘ksha’ as ‘khya’ or ‘ska’. In the Deopara prasasti the conjunct ‘ksha’ always looks like ‘ska’.

In The Code of Gentoo Law published in London in 1776, a chart of the Bengali alphabet appears. The forms of vowels and consonants belong to those prevalent in Bengal in that period. The vowels are 16 in number while the consonants are 34. In modern Bengali the vowels and the consonants are 11 and 39 respectively. The vowels can be pronounced independently but the consonants cannot and need the support of vowels. ‘A’, the first vowel, is considered to be a part of every consonant if it is accompanied by no other vowel sign.

In conclusion, one can say that the evolution of the script of this region began under the influence of the Guptas who introduced regular written court documents for the purpose of land transactions. However, by the 7th century the script began to develop its own distinct characteristics. The formation of Proto-Bengali as a distinct regional script with its own individual characteristics was complete by the 12th century. In the Vaishnava texts like Srikrishnakirtana (14th century) and Bodhicharyavatara (15th century) the Bengali script almost assumed its present form. With the establishment of printing presses in the 19th century, the Bengali script ceased to develop any further and

remains today the product of richly layered history and the living culmination of a tumultuous journey.

Modern Bengali Alphabets


Jagjivanpur copper plate


The Evolution of Punjabi Food

The food of Punjab is boldly spiced, robustly flavoured, and almost overwhelming on the senses. It borrows from the traditions of almost all the settlers whose ancestors once invaded India.

Nithya SubramanianPhotographs © Reuben Naik, Nithya Subramanian


On the road to Chandigarh from Shimla, there is a dhaba that is simply a shack set inside a field. It is one of many, each indistinguishable from the other. Weary travelers, their stomachs still churning from driving in circles up and down mountains, stop here in order to fortify themselves for the long drive still ahead. A young man in a greasy vest and even greasier trousers takes down orders from the menu of roti and dal. The food arrives quickly, with thick rotis still puffy from the tandoor and a deep brown dal with a glistening pool of melting butter atop it. Accompaniments are a whole raw onions and green chillies, that the other patrons of the dhaba have no trouble biting into with gusto. There is something in the wind there, that ripples through the mustard and wheat fields surrounding the dhaba, in the sunshine that beams down at the large piles of hay, the rickety plastic chairs, and the relief of finally pausing after a long journey that finds expression in each mouthful of that simple food. It is simple, but memorable.

A changing identityThe Punjab is the geographical region around

five rivers, Chenab, Jhelum, Beas, Ravi and Indus. The banks of the Indus housed the oldest civilisation known to man, proof that this fertile basin has attracted settlers ever since man learnt agriculture and settled beside a water body. Geographically, Punjab was the gateway to India. Surrounded by water on two sides and the Himalayas from the third, this northwestern

Aloo Paratha


region was the only land route into the subcontinent. It was the route that countless invaders took when they heard of the wealth of the region and came to see it for themselves. They found a fertile river basin and a reasonably pleasant climate, which tempted them to settle there and lay down roots, resisting the temptation to invade further. So it came to be that the people of Punjab have ancestors among the Indo-Aryans, the Dravidians, the Indo-Scythians, Semites, Iranians and Afghans in addition to the native Rajputs and Gujjars, among others. As each new century brought new settlers to this land, considered one of the most fertile places on earth, they each brought a new identity to the people of Punjab. This dynamic identity is directly reflected in their cuisine. The invaders all tried to recreate the tastes of their homeland in this new land, and as more of them kept coming, the food culture grew into an amalgam whose original elements are not always obvious.

Punjabi cuisine is the most recognisable facet of Indian cuisine, the world over. The people of Punjab have traveling and entrepreneurship in their blood, and they can be found in close-knit settlements, all over the world. Hearty and welcoming by temperament

Chicken Seekh Kabab

Amritsari Lassi


they build their tandoors and smoke their meats and breads and invite people to share whatever is cooking. Modern-day Punjabi food is fragrant and aggressively spiced. Meats are tender and marinated for long hours in a complex mixture of freshly ground spices. Breads are leavened with yeast or yoghurt and baked in minutes in high-temperature tandoors. The food is very hot, very spicy, very sweet, with bold flavours, all contributing to an assault of the senses that has today to become a metaphor for India itself.

The region, being far inland, experiences an extreme climate. The bare bones of the cooking involved simple and hearty vegetable preparations, meats skewered and blistered in tandoor ovens and naans, breads originally from Iran and the Middle East.

Ancient influencesTandoors are huge earthen ovens half-buried in

the ground with glowering coals in their bellies. The earliest examples of these ovens have been recovered from the site of the Indus valley civilization. Tandoors can reach temperatures as high as 500oC. Meats usually chicken or mutton are marinated in spices like paprika, turmeric, cinnamon, cloves, pepper, star anise and cardamom, and are tenderised with yoghurt or lime juice. The chunks of meat are placed on long iron skewers that are then placed inside the oven. The heat causes the outside of the meat to char, while the inside is cooked quickly. Breads are rolled out flat and stuck onto the walls of the tandoor. Because they have been leavened with yeast, the air inside them rapidly expands in bubbles that blister in the heat of the coals. Everything is served hot and smoky with a hearty pour of ghee. Ghee is indeed an essential flavouring agent,

rounding off the harshness of the spices and imparting richness to the food. Since, traditionally, the Punjabis are an agrarian people, the hard work on the field demanded such high-calorie and energy rich food.

A predominantly wheat-eating people, the Punjabis cook rice only on special occasions. It is rarely eaten plain or steamed, except as sick-person’s food. Rice is eaten with a bagar (flavoring) of cumin or fried onions with rajma (kidney beans) in gravy, or kadhi (a yoghurt-based stew). Rice is traditionally reserved for special occasions like festivals. In the winter, rice is cooked with gur (jaggery) and copious amounts of ghee to make mitthi chawal (sweet rice).

Also popular during this period are ingredients like wadi (spicy dried lentil cakes) with rice and choori, which is made of dried paranthas (unleavened bread), powdered and mixed with sugar and ghee. Milk and milk products are quite the trademark of this region and Punjab has often been called ‘The Land of Milk and Honey’. Lassi, a frothy yoghurt drink flavoured with rose water is immensely popular in the summer months. In the winter, the leaves of the mustard plant are cooked down with ghee to make sarson da saag (dish made of mustard leaves), which, served along with the makki di roti (rotis made with ground maize flour) has become a signature dish of the region.

Mughal influencesThe Mughals brought about another major

change in Punjabi cuisine, with their rich gravies. The Mughals entered India with the Battle of Panipat in 1526, when Babur defeated Ibrahim Lodi, the Sultan of Delhi. With them, they brought the subtle spices and


Chicken Seekh Kabab


cream-thickened sauces that are now a trademark of north-Indian cuisine. Innovations like tandoori kebabs which married the two forms of cooking, as well as the use and even substitution of vegetables and paneer for meats in the gravies happened, in order to accommodate the preferences of vegetarians. The cuisine came to somewhat resemble what we recognize today.

The most recent evolution to the traditional form of cooking, though, came with the advent of the tomato, not sixty years ago. This fruit, native to Latin America, didn’t find its way to Asia till the nineteenth century. Before the tomato, gravies were soured using tamarind paste and dried mango powder.

Modern historyPerhaps the most famous dish of Punjabi cuisine

is the chicken tikka masala, now considered the national

dish of the UK, a nation that has the third-largest population of Punjabis in the world. It is said that the dish was created when a disgruntled diner complained to a chef at an Indian restaurant that his tandoori chicken tikka was too dry. The chef quickly simmered the chicken pieces in a broth of canned tomato puree and cream, and thus the chicken tikka masala born. The story makes for an archetypal example of how food evolves and helps trace our wonderfully fluid identities. A chicken, marinated in Middle Eastern spices, baked in an oven designed by humankind’s first civilization on the banks of the Indus, simmered in the juice of tomatoes from Latin America, and served to a Briton, by an Indian. A Punjabi.

Chicken Tikka

Naans, hot from the tandoor Dal Makhani


The temples of ancient Cambodia live on, to tell tales rich in mythology and narrative power. They also provide a vivid example of the intermixing of cultures, Indian and Cambodian.


Cambodia in ancient times was the most powerful and fascinating empire, from the 9th to 13th century, in Southeast Asia. The extent and grandeur of the Cambodian civilization was demonstrated by the magnificent temples scattered over an area covering Laos and part of Thailand in those days. The area that was covered measures several hundred square kilometers and the magnificent buildings that even now stand attest to the power and artistic skills of the ancient Khmers. These buildings reflected eloquently the religious beliefs of the Khmers.

History in briefThe numerous epigraphs, the colossal

monuments with hundreds of reliefs and the chronicles, mostly Chinese, help construct the early history of Cambodia. Leaving aside the prehistoric period we come to the protohistoric period in which India established its direct relations with Cambodia. The first kingdom to which the Chinese referred to as ‘Funan’ was established by an Indian Brahmin, Kaundinya, in the third century of the Common Era. Interestingly enough, he established his kingdom after his marriage with a local princess. The capital of Funan, Wyadhapura, was situated in a region where Brahmanism and Buddhism existed simultaneously. The Sanskrit language was adopted at court level. Astronomy, a legal system, literature and universal kingship were some of the Indian ideas absorbed by the Khmers.

By the early seventh century, the centre of power moved towards north to a polity the Chinese called Zhenla (Chenla). According to a legend which finds reference in an epigraph this was established by an Indian migrant named Kambu Swayambhu and the state got its name Kambuja after its founder’s name. Later on, it became Cambodia.

The Angkor periodJayavarman II (802-830) was the first notable

king of this period. Along with his prowess in the political field, he took interest in establishing a new set of religious beliefs known as the ‘Devaraja’ (god-king) cult.

From the reign of Indravarman, a precedent was set for each successor to honour his ancestors with a temple (Preah Ko), and a tataka (baray meaning lake). In fact, these elements became regular features used by successive rulers to display their omnipotence.

Yashovarman (877-89) was another great ruler. Besides being a very powerful king he was also renowned as a scholar well versed in yoga, poetry and literature.

Of all the successors of Yashovarman, Suryavarman II was the most famous. He reigned from 1113 to 1150. He remained in history as a great builder of the magnificent, colossal temple of Angkor Wat.

Jayavarman VII (1181-1220) was the last important king of the dynasty. He was a Mahayanist. He undertook a massive building programme and also won victory over the Chams, a battle that is depicted on the bas-reliefs at the Bayon.

Sometime in the 14th century the Thais made repeated raids on Angkor, attacking it brutally and finally forcing the Khmers to shift their capital to Phnom Penh in the 15th century.

The monuments restoredThe ruins of the once captivating, colossal

monuments including the ones like the Angkor Wat and Angkor Thom that were devastated by enemies, nature and utter negligence on the part of the natives, were first noticed by the Portuguese and the Spanish missionaries. The diaries meticulously written by Henry Mouhot


The Angkor Wat

Ta Prohm


aroused interest among architects and connoisseurs of art. Simultaneously, the decipherment of some 1200 Sanskrit epigraphs by Hendrik Kern, Auguste Barthe and A. Bergaigne revealed the history related to several aspects of Cambodia.

Several Frenchmen have made significant contributions to the conservation of Angkor. Jean Commaille was the first among them, followed by Henri Marchal an introducer of the restoration system known as anastylosis: a method of recording, dismantling and reconstructing whole structures. Then there was a band of champions of Angkor that included Georges Trouve and Maurice Glaize.

Indians should be proud of their efforts and expertise in the restoration of Angkor Wat through the Archaeological Survey of India from 1980 onwards. Presently, they have undertaken repairs and renovation of the dilapidated temple of Ta Phrom.

Restoration efforts were aided by UNESCO, with the inclusion of the historic site of Angkor in a World Heritage List in 1992 and the project APSARA (Authority for the Protection and Management of Angkor and the Region of Siem Reap) for temple restoration.

Vinshu on Garuda, Angkor Wat

Vali vadha, Angkor Wat


Below, we have selected a few temples to represent the significance as well as the artistic skill of the ancient Khmers and the influence of Indian culture. They are also selected either because of their size or importance, to serve as an introduction to the scope and variety of the ancient remains in Cambodia. The most popular and magnificent monuments are Angkor Wat, followed by Angkor Thom, the Bayon, Preah Khan, Banteay Srei, and so on.

Angkor WatOf all the monuments howsoever magnificent,

Angkor Wat is the one which surpasses all in aspects

like architecture, art, iconography, symbolism and even location. It is a cultural masterpiece and a synonym for Cambodia. It is the largest and one of the most intact of the religious monuments in the country. It ranks among the finest monuments in the world as regards its perfection in composition, balance of various architectural members, proportions, narrative reliefs and enticing sculptures. Some credit its design to Diwakara Pandit, an Indian migrant and a royal priest.

Angkor Wat (the City Temple) built in the regime of Suryavarman II (1113-1150) was dedicated to Vishnu. The sculptures, based on the Hindu scriptures,

Battle scene, Angkor Wat

King Suryavarman II in his court, Angkor Wat


symbolically communicate the fundamental religious, philosophical, ethical and political principles of the Khmers at the time of Suryavarman II. One fails to judge adequately its magnitude, its colossal nature, and grandeur through photographs. Nothing approaches the actual experience of seeing this temple.

Angkor Wat is an extensive edifice occupying very large area of about 210 hectares, demarcated by a laterite enclosure wall which is surrounded by a moat 200m wide. The perimeter of the enclosure wall measures 5.5 km. The moat can be crossed by a huge causeway, flanked by a naga-shaped balustrade, built of sandstone blocks 250m long and 12m wide. Because of its colossal size, it was believed to be the work of gods. It is estimated that the entire constructed works might have required 12 million cubic feet of material.

The complex is west-facing which paved the way for discussion among the experts. Angkor Wat is divided into four enclosures and stands on three stepped pyramids. Its central tower soars 66.1m above the ground. Once inside the enclosure of the sacred city, another paved avenue almost 11m wide and raised 1.2 m above the ground stretches for 1,183m, flanked by nagas (snakes). The temple itself, divided into three stories, each surrounded by a gallery, stands on a platform. The blind wall in the third gallery supports an amazing row of bas-reliefs, which unwind for 656.1m in a band 2m high, like illuminated stone manuscripts.

The narrative reliefsThe hundreds of reliefs sculpted in all the

galleries narrate events and symbolically convey the fundamental religious, philosophical, ethical and even political principles of the Khmers. These reliefs clearly refer to popular events from the epics like the Ramayana and the Mahabharata and the Puranas, visually narrated in a way that is almost faithful to the Sanskrit texts. However, the reasons for the creation and execution of these reliefs have been debated by numerous scholars. The reasons they discussed can be

put together to understand their purpose. They were carved to educate visitors, as a part of the sculptural decoration of the monuments, for their aesthetic appeal, for gaining merit as pious deeds and perhaps for magic functions, as George Coedes reasons. It should be noted here that the Khmers did not have the concept of ‘art for art’s sake’.

The subjects of the reliefs relate to the mythology of Vishnu with whom Suryavarman is identified. In the north wing of the west gallery, the ferocious battle between Rama and Ravana is portrayed. It unfolds in an action packed drama. Taking the west wing of the north gallery the battle between the deva-s and asura-s

Apsaras

Leper King Terrace

Samudramanthan, Angkor Wat


is carved in bas-reliefs. The theme in the east wing is seen as the dreadful battle against evil forces and celebrating the victory of Lord Krishna over Banasura, while the churning of the sea of milk sculpted in the south wing is inspired by the Bhagawata Purana. Above all, the south gallery sketches in sculpture the life of Suryavarman who built this magnificent temple and was at the helm of affairs. His consultation with the ministers, delivery of judgements and victorious battles also are made visual here.

Angkor is considered as a chief wonder of the world today. No wonder the Cambodian royalty has rightly chosen the towers of Angkor Wat to appear on the national flag (and on the currency notes) as a symbol of unity and in recognition of a glorious heritage.

In Angkor Wat, the Khmer empire when it was at the height of power produced the perfect building, making manifest the dream of paradise on earth and giving mankind a masterpiece of supreme beauty.

Angkor ThomJayavarman VII after his victory over the

Champs resolved to build an invincible city now known as Angkor Thom. This city, destined to be the capital of Cambodia, is surrounded by a laterite wall measuring 300 sq km, 3 km each side enclosing an area of 145.5

hectares edged by a moat 100 m wide and up to 18.2 m deep. As it name implies it was indeed a ‘Great City’. It was larger than any city in Europe at that time. Within it were the palace and residences of the civil as well as military officers and priests. It also included within its precincts the Bayon temple, the terraces of the elephants and the Leper King, Prasat Sour Prat, as well as the earlier monuments of the Baphuon and Phimeanakas.

The Angkor Thom city had five great causeways, one in each cardinal direction, with an additional gate of Victory on the east, aligned with the abovementioned terraces. A tall gopura, with four faces of Avalokiteshvara facing in the four directions, makes the temple imposing. The five principal entrances lead to the Bayon, occupying the centre of the capital. This temple also is a creation of Jayavarman VII. Massive towers rise around a 16-sided central sanctum, each one with four faces gazing afar, yet near.

The causeways across the moat have nine-headed naga balustrades flanked by rows of 54 huge sculptures of gods to one side and another side covered with an equal number of statues of asuras. The overall effect is enchanting. The gopuras rising 23 m to the sky, crowned with four heads, built in a style grandiose and elegant, form a sight unparalleled in its strength and expression.

The BayonThe Bayon is one of the significant monuments

in the Angkor Thom complex. Along with Angkor Wat it evokes a similar aesthetic response though they both are different in purpose, architecture, decoration and design.

This was a Buddhist temple constructed in 12th century by Jayavarma VII. Architecturally, it is very balanced and harmonious. It has 54 towers each having four faces of Avalokiteshvara, in all numbering 216 which give a majestic look to the edifice. These faces,

Row of asuras, Angkor Thom

Bas Relief, Bayon


with slightly curving lips and serene smiles, add to the beauty of the Bayon towers. However the highlight of the Bayon is the bas-reliefs.

The Bayon contains three separate levels, the first two of which accommodates galleries with depictions in bas-reliefs. The third one is beautified with a dominant 16 sided central sanctuary.

The two galleries of bas-reliefs are distinguished by the degree of elevation. The reliefs in the inner gallery relate mainly to the mythical scenes. And those in the outer gallery depict scenes of every day life: markets, fishing, festivals with cock-fights and dog-fights, jugglers, women engaged in cooking, serving drinks, a woman removing lice from another woman’s hair, a mother playing with her children, another woman kneeling with her arms around a figure who is writhing in pain (probably depicting a scene of child

birth helped by a midwife). In another gallery the naval battle of 1177 between the Khmers and the Chams is depicted. The boats are superbly portrayed, the prows being richly ornamented. Scenes of royal processions with banners and parasols are very attractive. They all exhibit a wealth of creativity.

Preah KhanThe Preah Khan is a Buddhist establishment

credited to Jayavarman VII (1181-1219). It served as nucleus of a group that includes the temples of Neak Pean (the coiled serpents) and Ta Som (the ancestor Som) both situated on Jayatataka. The plan of this temple (ancient Nagarajayashri) is complex one. It was a dwelling place of the sacred protective sword of the Khmer kingdom. The Preah Khan was not only a Buddhist temple but also contained shrines dedicated to

Avalokiteshvara faces, Bayon

Dansing Apsaras , Preah Khan


Hindu deities like Vishnu and Shiva, local spirits, royal ancestors and deified human personalities.

In all, it constitutes various sectors containing cruciform shrines, one within the other, arranged axially and to be approached from within, making the structure longer than any other in ancient Cambodia.

Unfortunately many big trees, forming practically a jungle, destroyed the monastaries, dharamshala-s, gopura-s, hall of dancers (as dancing apsara-s are found carved on its lintel) and a unique two-storied pavilion supported on round columns. The traces of all these were discovered in 1920 by the French. Till then, these were covered by dense forest.

Bantey SreiThe magnificent temple, unlike other edifices,

was planned and commissioned by two Brahmin brothers, Yajnavaraha and Vishnukumara. The work was completed in 967.

It was discovered by a Frenchman in 1914 but the irony of fate lies in that several important sculptural pieces were stolen also by a Frenchman named Malraux in 1923. Shockingly enough, he later became a minister

in the French government. This temple was the first one which was completely restored by the process of anastylosis.

Architecturally it is a jewel in Khmer art and artistically it is superb. On a low platform in the centre of the square precinct are three shrines dedicated to Hindu divinities. These shrines are with a superstructure comprising four tiers, decorated with miniature replicas of the main shrine, reminiscent of the construction of an Indian temple.

Its specialty is the narrative scenes depicted in the pediments, tympanums and triple arches. The scenes carved are- Indra riding his three-headed elephant Airavata, the abduction of Sita by Viradha, The Vidarana –Narasimha image, Ravana lifting Kailasa, Govardhanadhari Krishna, Krishna killing Kamsa, Jarasandha vadha, Vali vadha, etc. The temple is a delight to the eyes and its walls tell rich tales.Ultimately, this is the fascinating tale of the tragically ruined yet incredibly mesmerising monuments of Cambodia, magnificent even in their desolation.

Bante Srei Three shrines at Bante Srei

Kansavadha, Bante Srei


Glimpsesof the next issue

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Block carving

A relic of the past, the wooden block disappeared from the large textile production circuits when the popularization of screen printing, during the second half of the 20th century, took over as the main technique for the textile industry. The wooden block was suddenly pushed into the background as an archaic art form and an unproductive method. However it did not entirely disappear. It has been kept alive in Baroda, Gujarat by Damodar Vithaldas Gajjar and others.

Dewa Sharif: A seat of mysticism and devotion

Situated in the Barabanki district of the most populous state of India, Uttar Pradesh, Dewa Sharif is a shrine dedicated to the great Sufi saint Hazarat Haji Waris Ali Shah. Gracefully well adorned walls, the imposing cupolas and the minarets reflect the grandeur of architecture as well as the simplicity of the saint.

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